SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH
SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s
Name
Eugene “Ted” Edward Sabadine
Rank
Private
Service Number
737
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron
41st Australian Infantry Battalion
Date of Birth
1893
Place of Birth
Ravenswood, Queensland
Family Details
Single
Son of Joseph Sabadine Senior and Annie (nee O’Rourke)
Age at Enlistment
22
Place of Enlistment
Townsville Recruiting Depot
Date of Death
9 July 1917
Place of Death
Messines, Belgium
Cemetery or
Memorial Name
Grave or Memorial
Number
Messines Ridge British Cemetery
Plot I, Grave No. 7, Messines Ridge British Cemetery
PHOTO:
Source: Family Collection, Photograph of Private Eugene Sabadine
SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY:
Prepared by Theo Delaney
Eugene Edward Sabadine, known as “Ted”, was born in 1893, in Ravenswood, Queensland. He was my
great, great uncle, the brother of my great grandfather, Joseph Sabadine. Both of them served here on the
Western Front. Sadly, only Joe returned. Ted lost his life on 9 July 1917 and is buried here. He was never
to see Australia, his mother or his brothers again. He was never to experience the joys of marriage or
fatherhood or to see how the Sabadine family grew. He, like so many soldiers, was never to know the
weariness of age.
During his short life, he lived and worked in Townsville. Ted was just 22 when, in the early part of the
World War 1, he enlisted with the Australian Imperial Forces. He fought here at Messines in the 41st
Australian Infantry Battalion and was killed by shrapnel, at just 24 years of age. In the words of a fellow
soldier, “In stature he was inclined to be small and round shouldered with jet black hair and smiling eyes…
He was one of those men who appreciated a good turn for he was ever ready to do whatever he could to
help his fellow man. He thought of others”.
Ted, I believe that you are the embodiment of the Anzac legend: spirited, courageous, a good mate;
prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.
From the front, my great grandfather, Joe, wrote a letter to his wife Annie, when he heard that his brother
had been killed. He told her he’d met the boys who were with Ted when he died, and that they showed
him where he was buried. I can’t imagine how he must have felt to write that letter, or the thoughts that
must have been swirling through his mind. I wonder, too, as my great grandfather was the first to visit
Ted’s grave, that perhaps I am only the second member of the Sabadine family to come to this place, and
that almost 100 years have passed. How must my great grandfather have felt, standing over Ted’s grave?
I’m sure he wept, said a prayer and his last goodbyes to Ted. When Joe returned to Australia at the end of
the war he must have done so with a heavy heart, knowing that he was leaving his brother behind, buried
on foreign soil, 12,000 miles from home.
Ted, although your place of rest is so far from home, you are always in the hearts and minds of your
brother Joe’s family. His family has grown. It’s one you would both be proud of. We honour your life and
your contribution, son of Australia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Australian War Memorial 2014, “Roll of Honour: Eugene Edward Sabadine”,
http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1664116/, (accessed 15 February 2015)
Australian War Memorial 2014, “Wounded and Missing: Eugene Edward Sabadine”,
Http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1499786/ (accessed 15 February 2015)
Baldey, D. 2010, “Sapper Joseph Sabadine”, www.tunnellers.net/profiles___photos/sabadine_joseph_7518.doc,
(accessed 15 February 2015)
National Archives of Australia 2015, SABADINE Eugene Edward : Service Number - 737,
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8075006
(accessed 14 February 2015)
Sabadine, J. 1917, “Letter to Wife Annie”, Family Archives
Weir, D. 1917, “Killed in Action, 9.7.17”, cited in Australian War Memorial, accessed 16 February 2015