Douglas Herman CANNAN

Date of birth14 April 1880
Place of birthTownsville, Queensland
SchoolState School and Brisbane Grammar School, Queensland
Other trainingFellow of the Queensland Institute of Accountants
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationSecretary and Manager, Fish Market Board
AddressLeswell, Chelmer, Brisbane, Queensland
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation34
Height5' 9"
Weight140 lbs
Next of kinBrother, John K Cannan, Solicitor, Brisbane, Queensland
Previous military serviceServed as Citizen Military Forces, Brisbane, Queensland (Lieutenant, 9th Regiment, 9 January 1904; Captain, 9th Regiment, 24 September 1917; Captain, 8th Regimebnt, 14 October 1912)
Enlistment date23 September 1914
Rank on enlistmentCaptain
Unit name15th Battalion, D Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/32/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board Transport A40 Ceramic on 22 December 1914
FateKilled in Action 8 August 1915
Place of death or woundingGallipoli, Turkey
Age at death34
Age at death from cemetery records35
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 43), Gallipoli, Turkey

The Lone Pine Memorial, situated in the Lone Pine Cemetery at Anzac, is the main Australian Memorial on Gallipoli, and one of four memorials to men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Designed by Sir John Burnet, the principal architect of the Gallipoli cemeteries, it is a thick tapering pylon 14.3 metres high on a square base 12.98 metres wide. It is constructed from limestone mined at Ilgardere in Turkey.

The Memorial commemorates the 3268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who have no known grave and the 960 Australians and 252 New Zealanders who were buried at sea after evacuation through wounds or disease. The names of New Zealanders commemorated are inscribed on stone panels mounted on the south and north sides of the pylon, while those of the Australians are listed on a long wall of panels in front of the pylon and to either side. Names are arranged by unit and rank.

The Memorial stands over the centre of the Turkish trenches and tunnels which were the scene of heavy fighting during the August offensive. Most cemeteries on Gallipoli contain relatively few marked graves, and the majority of Australians killed on Gallipoli are commemorated here.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
75
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: John and Elizabeth CANNAN
Family/military connectionsBrother: Brigadier General James Harold Cannan CB CMG DSO Croix de Guerre, 11th Infantry Brigade Headquarters, returned to Australia, 22 August 1919.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Embarked Egypt to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 12 April 1915.

Admitted to 4th Field Ambulance, 1 June 1915 (tonsilitis); transferred to No 1 Australian Stationary Hospital, Mudros, 6 June 1915; rejoined Bn, Gallipoli, 12 June 1915.

Granted temporary rank of Major, 11 July 1915.

Reported wounded and missing, 7 August 1915, and reverted to rank of Captain.

Now, 20 February 1916, 'known to be Killed in Action, 8 August 1915'.

Note on file: 'Report of Prin. Chaplain: If Buried, done by Turks. on Abdul Rahman Ridge, Gallipoli Penin.'

Statement, Red Cross File No 06811021, 1901 Pte W. BAILEY, 15th Bn (repatriated prisoner of war), 16 March 1919: 'I was obseving with him from the beginning of the movement on August 6th until his death. On August 8th. during the attack on Hill 971, he was shot in the chest, left side. I bandaged him up snd saw that he was dead and left him. He must have been killed instantly.'

Second statement, 2153 Pte W.J. KEMP, 15th Bn (patient, Rest Camp, Mudros), 16 November 1915: 'Informant states that the Major is a prisoner of war as he was seen to be taken on Aug. 8th at Hill 971.'

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, CANNAN Douglas Herman
Red Cross File No 06811021