| Regimental number | 2869 |
| Place of birth | Richmond, Victoria |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Occupation | Clerk |
| Address | 136 Victoria Street, Lewisham, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 20 |
| Next of kin | Father, R F MacDouall, 136 Victoria Street, Lewisham, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Previous military service | Nil |
| Enlistment date | |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 4th Battalion, 9th Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/21/3 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A8 Argyllshire on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Sergeant |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 56th Battalion |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 22 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 29), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 162 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Reginald and Sarah MacDOUALL, 157 Denison Road, Petersham, New South Wales; husband of Mrs G. MacDOUALL. Native of Victoria |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Western Front Joined 4th Bn, Tel el Kebir, 6 January 1916. Transferred to 56th Bn, 13 February 1916. Appointed Lance Corporal, 14 February 1916; Temporary Corporal, 24 February 1916. Admitted to 14th Field Ambulance, Ferry Post, 19 May 1916 (colitis); transferred to No. 1 Australian Stationary Hospital, 28 May 1916. Promoted Corporal, 26 May 1916. Discharged to duty, 6 June 1916. Promoted Sergeant, 8 June 1916. Embarked from Alexandria, 29 July 1916; disembarked Southampton, England, via Marseilles, 9 August 1916. Appointed Temporary Company Sergeant Major, 1 January 1917. Found guilty, 30 March 1917, of neglect of duty: reverted to rank of Sergeant. Proceeded overseas to France, 5 September 1917; rejoined 56th Bn, 20 September 1917. Killed in action, 26 September 1917. W. SHORT, OC, 'C' Company, 56th Bn, stated: 'I have made enquiries regarding death of 2869 Sgt MacDouall. Killed 26 September 1917 but cannot find anyone who saw him. It is known he had his arm blown off and died of wounds shortly afterwards (but no further information can be obtained at present).' Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
