| Regimental number | 2782 |
| Place of birth | Maclean, New South Wales |
| Other Names | Claude Greybrook |
| School | Public School, New South Wales |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Occupation | Purser Ncsn Co |
| Address | Maclean, Clarence River, New South Wales |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 26 |
| Height | 5' 7" |
| Weight | 147 lbs |
| Next of kin | Father, F H Schwonberg, Maclean, Clarence River, New South Wales |
| Previous military service | Served for 6 years in the Maclean Scottish Rifles. |
| Enlistment date | |
| Place of enlistment | Liverpool, New South Wales |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 17th Battalion, 6th Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/34/2 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Corporal |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 17th Battalion |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Age at death | 29 |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 29 |
| 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 | 84 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Francis and Helen SCHWONBERG, Maclean, Clarence River, New South Wales |
| Family/military connections | Cousins and brother served [cannot be identified]. |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Western Front Proceeded from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 21 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 27 March 1916. Joined 17th Bn, 3 May 1916. Appointed Lance Corporal, 1 July 1916; Corporal, 1 August 1917. Reported wounded and missing in action, 9 October 1917. Court of Enquiry determined fate as 'Killed in action'. Statement made by 1232 Pte G. LYNCH, 17th Bn, 15 December 1917: 'The last time I saw No. 2872 L/Cpl Schwonberg C.G. 17th Battalion was at 10 a.m. on the 9th of October 1917. We were in an advance party which went up the Ypres Roueres railway. The enemy attacked us and we had to retire leaving wounded behind among them being the above mentioned Corporal. I believe he was wounded in the chest. The enemy advanced about 500 yards and consolidated which would leave him in their hands.' Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
| Sources | NAA: B2455, SCHWONBERG Claude Graybrook |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
