SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH
SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s
Name
Rank
Service Number
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron
Alexander Smith Gilvear
Lance Corporal
4496
9th Australian Infantry Battalion
Date of Birth
1894
Place of Birth
Stirling, Scotland
Family Details
Single
Son of Thomas and Christina Gilvear
Age at Enlistment
Place of Enlistment
21
Brisbane
Date of Death
7 May 1917
Place of Death
Bullecourt, France
Cemetery or
Memorial Name
Grave or Memorial
Number
Villers-Bretonneux Memorial
Index No. M.R.26, Part III, Villers Bretonneux Memorial
PHOTO:
SOURCE: Australian War Memorial
SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY:
Prepared by Adam Cass
Alexander Smith Gilvear was born in Scotland in 1894. He travelled to Australia in 1911 with his mother,
Christina Gilvear, his father Thomas Gilvear and his brothers. Their family settled in the Glasshouse
Mountains, just north of Brisbane.
On 15 October 1915 Alexander enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in Brisbane when he was 21
years old. Likewise, both his father and four brothers also enlisted. He identified himself as a labourer, and
recorded his religion as Presbyterian. Alexander was posted to the 9th Australian Infantry Battalion, which
was one of the first Australian battalions to be raised for the AIF in World War 1.
Alexander disembarked Brisbane on HMAT Wandilla. Alexander, or ‘Alick’ as he was called, sailed to Egypt
for training on 17 June 1916 and joined the 9th Battalion in France.
On 15 March 1917, Gilvear was appointed as Lance Corporal. Tragically, Gilvear was struck down during
heavy shelling on 7 May 1917. Shockingly, the following year Alick’s brothers, Kenneth Gilvear and Robert
Gilvear were also killed. Alexander’s father and two remaining brothers returned to Australia in 1919.
Today, Alexander’s descendants are active members of the Glass House/Caloundra community, including
Lex Gilvear who also served in the Australian Defence Force. Lance Corporal Alexander Gilvear’s sacrifice to
his country will never be forgotten.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Australian War Memorial 2014, 9th Infantry Battalion, http://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51449/
(Accessed 3 February 2015)
Australian War Memorial 2015, Roll of Honour: Alexander Smith Gilvear
http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1730312/ (Accessed 2 February 2015)
Beerwah FH Group 2010, Adopt a Digger: ‘GILVEAR, ALEXANDER SMITH’, http://www.adoptadigger.org/search-fora-ww1-digger/search-for-a-ww1-digger/item/3-diggers-database/166-gilvear-alexander (Accessed 3 February 2015)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission 2013, GILVEAR ALEXANDER SMITH, 2013 http://www.cwgc.org/find-wardead/casualty/1461097/GILVEAR,%20ALEXANDER%20SMITH (Accessed 3 February 2015)
National Archives of Australia 2015, Gilvear Alexander Smith Service Records, 1920
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/NameSearch/Interface/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=5128484&isAv=N
(Accessed 2 February 2015)