Name: McAlister, Frederick William
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Regimental number: 1695
Date/Place joined: 1/12/1915 Wagga
Age: 22y 5m
Physical features: Height 5’ 5” (165cm); Weight: 9st 7” (62.6kg); Chest: 33” (83.8cm); Eyes Blue; Hair Black; Complexion Medium.
Marital status: Single
Place of birth/residence: Wagga
Schooling: Christian Brothers High School
Occupation: Motor mechanic
War experience: Fred was allocated to the second reinforcements of the 55th Battalion.
After eighteen months in the trenches and on the muddy fields of the Somme, Fred had been one of the few Kangaroos who had not been wounded or been seriously ill.
On March 11, 1918, he was granted leave in France and while returning to his unit became drunk and went absent without leave from the reinforcement train.
He was returned under escort to his unit in mid-August 1918 and had to forfeit twenty-eight days’ pay.
Six weeks later he performed with such ‘conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty’ during an attack on the Hindenburg Line at St Quentin that he was awarded a Military Medal.
Life afterwards: Fred returned to Wagga and a welcoming reception committee in 1919.
He received paid training as a motor mechanic and the Department of Repatriation supplied his tools.
He married Elva Withers in Wagga and had three children.
In the late 40s they moved to Sydney where he worked as a linesman until 1963.
Fred died in 1975 at the age of 83 and is buried at Rookwood Cemetery.
INFORMATION COURTESY MUSEUM OF THE RIVERINA