| Regimental number | 1905 |
| Place of birth | Kolan South, Queensland |
| School | South Kolan, Lakes Creek and Bundaberg Central State Schools, Queensland |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Occupation | School teacher |
| Address | Richmond Hill, Charters Towers, Queensland |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 21 |
| Next of kin | Father, Frederick John Martin, School Residence, Sandgate, Queensland |
| Previous military service | In August 1914 he volunteered for service in the Pacific and went to New Guinea. |
| Enlistment date | |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 9th Battalion, 5th Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/26/2 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A55 Kyarra on |
| Regimental number from Nominal Roll | Commissioned |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Lieutenant |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 10th Battalion |
| Recommendations (Medals and Awards) |
Military Medal 'Patrol work at Le Barque, 24th-26th February 1917.' Recommendation date: |
| Other details from Roll of Honour Circular | Immediately after the declaration of war the regiment of the Citizen Foces to which he belonged was sent to Thursday Island. Volunteers were called for to proceed to New Guinea. My son went with 500 others. |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Place of death or wounding | Polygon Wood, Ypres, Belgium |
| Age at death | 21 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 17), 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 | 59 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Frederick John Benjamin and Susannah MARTIN (nee SCOTT), School Residence, Sandgate, Queensland. Native of Kolan South, Queensland |
| Medals |
Military Medal 'Near LE BARQUE, FRANCE, on the 24/26th February, 1917, L/Cpl MARTIN showed marked devotion to duty during the whole of the operations. His bravery and initiative, both on patrol, and in consolidating positions, while under heavy artillery and machine gun fire, were most praiseworthy. On one occasion, when the officer in charge of the patrol was killed by an enemy sniper, he successfully carried on, and returned with the required information. His excellent example was greatly inspiriting to all his men.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 140 Date: |
| Family/military connections | His aunt, Sister, subsequently Matron, A. Scott, volunteered and left Australia with the first contingent of nurses. She was in Egypt, France and India. |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front Medals: Military Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
