Community
23 April, 2026
Remembering a local lost
The son of Thomas William and Hannah Martin (nee Gilbert) of Bowen Street, St Arnaud, was born on December 17, 1896.
ON Anzac Day 2026, 111 years after the original Anzac Day, the St Arnaud RSL Sub-Branch remembers 2251 Private Gilbert Martin.
The son of Thomas William and Hannah Martin (nee Gilbert) of Bowen Street, St Arnaud, was born on December 17, 1896.
At 14-years-old, to fulfill his obligations under Australia law, he joined the 73 rd Infantry Battalion, a Western Victorian based Reservist organisation that had its headquarters in Ararat and a presence in towns such as Stawell, Murtoa, Donald and St Arnaud.
In 1911, the Australian Government had introduced compulsory military training for all males between the ages of 12 and 60. That compulsory scheme was abolished in 1929.
After finishing school, Gilbert became a plumber at the St Arnaud mine.
His work was to check the depth of the water in the mine.
The War Recruiting Unit came to St Arnaud on the July 14, 1915, where they gave a rousing talk in the Town Hall.
Gilbert was there and, along with 15 other local lads, volunteered to join the army.
At 7am on July 18, 1915, a contingent of 28 local volunteers left “the weighbridge”, which was near where the BP is today.
Accompanied by a sizeable crowd, they marched to the Railway Station to catch the early train to Melbourne.
Admiring crowds viewed the procession from vantage points along the way and then followed the recruits to the station platform that quickly became crowded.
The Lord Nelson Miners Band was in attendance and they played “Rule Brittania” and as the train pulled away from the station “God Save The King” to the cheers of the crowd.
In Melbourne, the recruits had to undergo medical examinations to ensure they were fit for active service.
On July 20, 1915 Gilbert took the oath in front of the Attesting Officer. Gilbert had been promoted to the rank of Corporal in the 73rd Battalion but relinquished that rank and became Private Martin again when he enlisted in the regular army at the age of 18 years and six months.
Private Martin was posted to the 4 th Reinforcement, 22 nd Battalion in Ballarat before leaving Australia aboard HMAT A20 Horarata on 27/9/15 and disembarked in Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt on January 8, 1916.
On March 12, 1916, Gilbert was transferred and taken on strength by the 2nd Pioneer Battalion in Moascar before leaving Alexandria by boat on March 19, to join the British Empire Forces in Europe disembarking in Marseilles, France on March 26.
The second Pioneer Battallion trained as infantrymen, but they were also tasked with some engineer functions, with a large number of personnel possessing trade qualifications from civilian life.
As such, they were designated as pioneer units.
A total of five pioneer battalions were raised by the AIF at this time, with one being assigned to each of the five infantry divisions that the Australians deployed to the battlefield in France and Belgium.
Tasked with digging trenches, labouring, constructing strong points and light railways, and undertaking battlefield clearance. The troops assigned to the pioneers required construction and engineering experience in addition to basic soldiering skills.
They were attached to the AIF 2nd Division and fought in most major battles along the western front in France and Belgium.
On the July 4, 1918, Australian and US Infantry, led by Lieutenant General John Monash, attacked German positions around the town of Le Hamel in northern France. Allied losses for the Battle of Hamel were estimated at 1400 killed and wounded and included in these are Private Gilbert Martin and his mate Private Robert Harris were killed on day one of the battle.
They are buried in the Blangy Tronville Cemetery in France.
2251 Private Gilbert Martin is remembered on Honor Boards of the Kara Kara Shire and the St Arnaud Borough, the St Arnaud Town Hall Board and on the Portico on Napier Street.
A “Holy Oak” tree was also planted in his memory in St Georges Park, number 25.
Information supplied by the family of Gilbert Martin and the resources of the St Arnaud Historical Society, The Australian National Archives and the Department of Veteran Affairs.
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