Stimpson Alfred Gransden

  General Notes:

Farmer at Crystal Brook

Died of Blood Poisoning

Gransden Stimpson Alfred : SERN 2165 : POB Port Broughton SA : POE Adelaide SA : NOK M Gransden Louisa
GRANSDEN, S A 3830 1914-1923
Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad
Name: Gransden, Stimpson Alfred
Unit: C Coy 2nd Depot (crossed out), 9/27 Battln (crossed out), 9th Rfts (Reinforcements) (crossed out).
Joined on 9.9.15
Name: Stimpson, Alfred Gransden
Town: Port Broughton, South Australia
Natural Born British Subject
Age: 26 years
Trade: Farm Labourer
Apprentice: No
Married: No
Next of Kin: Mother, Mrs Louisa Granseden, Snowtown, South Australia
Have you started the whole, if any, of your previous service? Yes
Are you prepared to undergo inoculation against smallpox and enteric fever? Yes.
Signed bt Stimpson Alfred Gransden
Date: 3rd Sep 1915
Gransden Stimpson Alfred : SERN 2165 : POB Port Broughton SA : POE Adelaide SA : NOK M Gransden Louisa
GRANSDEN, S A 3830 1914-1923 http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/167161 (Accessed 18th April 2017)

Red Cross Wounded and Missing:
Stimpson Alfred Gransden
Service Number: 3830
Rank: Private
Unit: 4th Australian Machine Gun Company
Conflict / Operation: First World War, 1914-1918
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1485560/ (Accessed 18th Apr 2017)

Original data: National Archives of Australia: B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

During the First World War Stimpson spent some time in Pett Farm in Stockbury, with his cousins, including Ethel Gransden, daughter of Richard and Julia Terry. Ethel would have been about 16 at this time.
Kathleen Welch

First Name:S A
Surname:Gransden
Age:37
Index Number of Admission:56611
Rank:Private
Service Number:77223
Years Service:3 Years
Months With Field Force:2 Years 4 Months
Ailment:Gonorrhoea
Date Transferred to Sick Convoy:26/11/1918
Date of Transfer From Sick Convoy:22/11/1918
Number of Days Under Treatment:44
Number/Designation of Ward:Field Ambulance
Notes written in the Observations Column:No. 27 Ambulance Train
Religion:Church of England
Regiment:Royal Army Medical Corps
Battalion:44th Field Ambulance (Why is this important?)
Other unit info:14th Division
Archive Reference:MH106/491 MH106/491 can be found at The National Archives in Kew, and contains First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen from No. 11 Casualty Clearing Station

Formation And Mobilization - 14/09/1914
Location: Aldershot Garrison. A New Army Division formed for the duration of the War. The Light Division was originally numbered as 8th (Light) Division and the Brigades numbered 23rd , 24th and 25th.

Pre-War battalions released from overseas service were formed into the 8th (Regular) Division and the Light Division was renumbered as 14th (Light) Division, becoming the junior division of First New Army on 14th September 1914. On 26th September H.M. King George V inspected the Division at Aldershot, in November the Division moved out of barracks to billets around Godalming and Guildford.

On 22nd January 1915 Field Marshal Earl Kitchener carried out an inspection at Hankley Common. In February the Division returned to barracks at Stanhope Lines, Aldershot and engaged on final training and manoeuvres in preparation for war.

On 18th May 1915, the Division entrained for Southampton, crossed the English Channel to Le Havre and concentrated around Watten (north west of St Omer), the Division being complete by 25th May. The 14th (Light Division) served in France and Belgium on the Western Front until the end of the Great War.

Hooge (German Liquid Fire Attack) - 30/07/1915
Second Attack On Bellewaarde - 25/09/1915
Battles Of The Somme - Battle Of Delville Wood - 13/08/1916
Battles Of The Somme - Battle Of Flers-Courcelette - 15/09/1916
German Retreat To The Hindenburg Line - 14/03/1917
Battles Of Arras - First Battle Of The Scarpe - 09/04/1917
Battles Of Arras - Third Battle Of The Scarpe - 03/05/1917
Battles Of Ypres - Battle Of Langemarck - 18/08/1917
Battles Of Ypres - Fighting On The Menin Road. - 22/08/1917
First Battle Of Passchendaele - 12/10/1917
First Battles Of The Somme - Battle Of St Quentin - 21/03/1918
First Battles Of The Somme - Battle Of The Avre - 04/04/1918
The Final Advance In Flanders - Battle Of Ypres - 28/09/1918
The Final Advance In Flanders - Battle Of Courtrai - 14/10/1918
Armistice And Demobilization - 20/10/1918
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/records/7286196/private-s-a-gransden-royal-army-medical-corps/ (Accessed 26 Mar 2017)

12th May 1917
South Australia
Killed in Action
Private S. A. Gransden
1917 'SOUTH AUSTRALIA.', Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), 12 May, p. 8. , viewed 22 Apr 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45430704

Mon 14th May 1917
Prisonver of War (prev. rep. missing).
Private S. A. Gransden
1917 'SOUTH AUSTRALIA.', The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), 14 May, p. 10. , viewed 22 Apr 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20182979


Photograph of S. A. Gransden, listed as dead, before it was found that he was a POW.
1917 'THE LATE PRIVATE S.A GRANSDEN.', Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), 26 May, p. 39. , viewed 22 Apr 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87607631

4th M. G. Coy
A I F
Gransden
Gnr, S. A. 3830
Prisoner of War
Transferred to Soltau,
? by information from Man by Post-Card dated 23.6.17
London 9.8.17
A&P.I

4th M. Gun Coy, A.I.F
Gransden'Gunner. Stempson. A. 3830
"Prisoner of War"
Interned Soltau Z 3678.
"Am in splendid health"
Extract Post-Card received from man dated 10.10.17
London 19.11.17

A. I. F. 4th Machine Gun Coy.
Gransden Gnr S. A. 3830
"Repatriated Prisoner of War"
Arrived Ripon 28/12/18
Cert. by Information from A.I.F. Hqrs 50/12/18
London 2/1/19

Red Cross Wounded and Missing
Service Number: 3830

Rank: Private

Unit: 4th Australian Machine Gun Company

Conflict / Operation: First World War, 1914-1918
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1485560/ (Accessed 26th Mar 2017)

3830 Gransden, Stimpson Alfred. Private. 26. Farmer labourer. Single, Address: Snowtown, South Australia. Next of Kin- Mother, Mrs. Louisa Gransden, Snowtown, South Australia. Religion- Methodist. Date of joining 03 Sep 1915. Unit serving at date of enrolment 27th Infantry Batallion, 9th Reinforcements. Pay rate befor embarcation, per day. 5s 0d. Date to be paid 6.02.16. After embarkation Daily Rate, excluding Deferred Pay 5s0d. Allotments in Australia per day 3s. 0d. Net Rate, no including Allowances or Deferred Pay 2s0d. Daily Rate of Deferred Pay, only issuable on completion of service with expeditionary force. 1s. 0d.
Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_LARGE/RCDIG1067586/RCDIG1067586--383-.JPG

First World War Nominal Roll Page
3830 Pte. Gransden, Stimpson Alfred. 4 M. G. Bn. 3.9.15 R. T. A. 17.3.19
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/nominal_rolls/first_world_war/page/R1555575/?preferred_name=Gransden&sort=asc&order=id&op=Search (Accessed 26th Mar 2017)

27th Australian Infantry Battalion
The 27th Battalion was raised in South Australia in March 1915, from recruits previously earmarked for the 24th Battalion, a large number of whom hailed from the suburbs of Adelaide. The battalion left Australia in June, and, after two months spent training in Egypt, landed at Gallipoli on 12 September.

At Gallipoli, the 7th Brigade, which included the 27th Battalion, reinforced the weary New Zealand and Australian Division. The 27th had a relatively quiet time at Gallipoli and the battalion departed the peninsula in December, having suffered only light casualties.

After another stint in Egypt, the 7th Brigade proceeded to France as part of the 2nd Australian Division. The 27th Battalion entered the front-line trenches for the first time on 7 April 1916 and took part in its first major battle at Pozieres between 28 July and 5 August. After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, the 2nd Division returned to the south in October. The 27th Battalion took part in two attacks to the east of Flers in the Somme Valley, both of which floundered in the mud.

Although it participated in minor attacks during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in early 1917, the 27th Battalion did not carry out a major attack again until 20 September 1917. On this occasion, it was part of the 2nd Division's first wave at the battle of Menin Road. Victory here was followed up with the capture of Broodseinde Ridge on 4 October, in which the 27th Battalion also played a role.

Like most AIF battalions, the 27th fought to turn back the German spring offensive in April 1918, and later in the year participated in a string of offensive battles as Germany was pushed ever closer to defeat. It attacked around Morlancourt on the night of 10 June; acted in a supporting role during the battle of Hamel on 4 July; and was in the first wave at the battle of Amiens on 8 August. On 8 August, the battalion captured 9 artillery pieces, 25 machine guns and over 200 prisoners.

The Battalion's last actions of the war were fought as part of the effort to break through the Beaurevoir Line in the first week of October 1918, but it was not disbanded until 4 June 1919.
References
W. Dollman and H.M. Skinner, The blue and brown diamond: History of the 27th Battalion (A.I.F.) on active service, (Adelaide: Lonnen & Cope, 1921)
AWM4/23/44/1-23/44/45

Colour patch, brown triangle on top, mid blue triangle on bottom.
Australian War Memorial. 27th Australian Infantry Battalion https://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51467/ (Accessed 18th April 2017)

50th Australian Infantry Battalion
The 50th Battalion was raised in Egypt on 26 February 1916 as part of the "doubling" of the AIF. Approximately half of its recruits were veterans from the 10th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia. Reflecting the composition of the 10th, the 50th was predominantly composed of men from South Australia. The battalion became part of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Australian Division and was dubbed "Hurcombe's Hungry Half Hundred", after its first CO, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Hurcombe.

After arriving in France on 11 June 1916, the 50th fought in its first major battle at Mouquet Farm between 13 and 15 August and suffered heavily. It took part in another assault launched there on 3 September. The battalion saw out the rest of the year alternating between front-line duty, and training and labouring behind the line. This routine continued through the bleak winter of 1916-'17.

Early in 1917, the battalion participated in the advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, and attacked at Noreuil on 2 April. For his actions at Noreuil Private Joergen Jensen was awarded the Victoria Cross. Later that year, the focus of AIF operations moved to the Ypres sector in Belgium. There the battalion was involved in the battle of Messines between 7 and 12 June and the battle of Polygon Wood on 26 September. Another winter of trench routine followed.

Utilising troops freed by the collapse of Russia in October 1917, the German Army launched a major offensive on the Western Front at the end of March 1918. The 4th Division was deployed to defend positions south of the River Ancre in France. At Dernancourt, on 5 April, the 50th Battalion assisted in the repulse of the largest German attack mounted against Australian troops during the war. The German threat persisted through April, and on ANZAC Day 1918 the 50th participated in the now- legendary attack to dislodge the enemy from Villers-Bretonneux.

The 50th Battalion continued to play an active role during the Allies' own offensive, launched on 8 August 1918. Its last major operation of the war was the attack on the Hindenburg "outpost line" on 18 September, during which the 50th composed part of the 4th Division's reserve. The 50th Battalion ceased to exist as a separate entity when it amalgamated with the 51st Battalion on 6 March 1919.
References
"50th Battalion, A.I.F.: Brief history from date of inception (26/2/16) to close of hostilities (1918)", 50th Battalion A.I.F. Club, Annual Reunion Programme 1935, (Adelaide: 50th Battalion A.I.F. Club, 1935).; R. Freeman, Hurcombe's hungry half hundred: A memorial history of the 50th Battalion AIF 1916-1919, (Norwood: Peacock Publications, 1991).
AWM4/23/67/1-23/67/35

Colour Patch, round purple half circle at top and grey half circle on bottom.
https://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51490/ (Accessed 18th Apr 2017)




Rank:
Private
Service number:
3830
Unit:
27th Infantry Battalion
Location:
Prisoner of war camp, Limburg an der Lahn, Germany
Prisoner of war camp, Soltau, Germany
Prisoner of war camp, Wahn, Germany
Prisoner of war hospital, Verden an der Aller, Germany
Ripon, North Yorkshire
Enquirer:
Louisa Gransden
Packet number:
2375
Date range:
1917-1919
SLSA record number:
SRG 76/1/2375
Prisoner of war
South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau 1916-1919 https://sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/soldier/stimpson-alfred-gransden (Accessed 18th April 2017)

Confidential
Officer in Charge Base Records, Victoria Barracks, Melbourne
Keswick Barracks, Adelaide
17 Jun 1919
The undermentioned soldier has been handed his discharge. Medical Board Proceedings and other documents as follows, forwarded herewith:- D2, Dental Form, Form X, B.178, Med Report
No 3830 Rank Pte. Name Gransden, Stimpson Alfred.
Unit 4th M.G.Coy.
Date of Attestation 3/9/15
Date of Embarkatcion 7/2/16
Date of Disembarkation 28/4/19 Ex. "Plassy"
Reason for Discharge. Cessation of Hostilities.
Date of Discharge 12/6/19
Total Service 3 years, 283 days.
Service Abroad. 3 years, 81 days.
Account adjusted in Part
Captain, Staff Officer Invalids and Returned Soldiers
4th Military District.
Stamped Base Records, Received Jun 20 1919
http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/167161/34 (Accesssed 18th April 2017)

3830
Rank Pte Name Gransden S. A.
Unit 4th M.G. Btn (Machine Gun Battalion) m M.Gun Coy (late 50 and 27 Btn) (crossed out)
Casualty 11/4/17 Missing CIPL? 1317/8788 E alt? London 28.4.17
Previously reported missing, now reported Prisoner of War, Germany
C P B L 1512/ 9179a dated Londong 18/6/17
Now officially reptd Prisoner of War Germany Interned Gaf Reserve
Layarett Verden A/Aller POW Germany M19/1359/87 List Long D? London 5/7/?
Previously reported Prisoner of War Germany now reported repatriated arrived England 26/12/18 C,I.B.L 3103/506 dated London 31/12/18 Received B. R. 2/1/19
Reg to Aust per H. J. "Plassy" embarked 17/3/19
C. J. D. L 3325/5722 V Ltd. London 14/3/19 Rec B. R. 31/3/19
Returned to Australia per "Plassy" List 234
Disembarked 27/4/19 4 M.D.

1/5/17 M.G. 4 Advised Missing 11/4/17
5.5.17 COPY MADE FOR WAR PENSIONS
21 Jun 1917 M.G 4 Advised Prisoner of War Germany
26.6.17 AAC pensions advised re casualty vide statement No 36
Sep 20 1917 M. G. 4 Advised Prisoner of War Officially
9 Sep 1917 N.O.K. Advised ?asper M? 19/1359/87
6.1.19 N.O.K Advised arrived England
M.G. 4 Advised
5 Apr 1919 N.O.K Advised returning to Australia Form
12-6-19 Dischared 4MD
War History Index
Star No
British War Medal 4/10 No. 9546
Victory Medal 4/10. 9482
http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/167161/38 (Accessed 18 Apr 2017)


Mr. S. A. GRANSDEN .-
Mr. Stimpson Alfred Gransden, who died at the Kadina Hospital on Feb ruary 15, was the third son of Mrs.
A. Gransden and the late Mr. A. Gransden. He was 40 years of age, and was born at Port Broughton. He
served in the Great War. Mr. Gransden lived at Snowtown, element's Gap, Modbury, and latterly at Kadina. He leaves a widow and four children.
1930 'Mr. S. A. GRANSDEN', Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), 27 February, p. 33. , viewed 18 Apr 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90102039

Prisoner of War Record- Redcross https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1038708--1-.pdf

Full Service Record http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/167161/38

Unit details https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/units/2





Bullecort- place of capture, description and details http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/bullecourt/what-happened-here.php

Rolls of Honor.
The eligible young men of Snowtown and the surrounding districts have responded nobly to the call of Empire, and, happily, only three of the number have, as far as is known, lost their life. The rolls of honor of the recruiting centres are formidable For instance, the soldiers of the district who have gone to the front or enlisted are as follow:

Snowtown.
F. E. Rice, :D. S. Munro, A. Ward, H. S. Henstridge, C. I. Keough, F. I. Clothier, H. A Murray, G. E. Adams, S. A. Gransden. B. Richens, R. S. Smith. T. W. Smith, R. M. Bannon, K. L. Wauchope, J. S. Hancock, W. V. O'Shaughnessy, R. M. Dobie, *O. V. Pearson, G. Newtwig, P.A Clutterham. T. Weeden, L. Slattery, +W.Harrell, A.M. O'Neil, Izri Offen, G. V. Schell, O. A. Gransden, T. G. Turner, O. E. Lindner, J. F. Kelly, W. O'Neil. John Lock, W. G. Fraser, A. E. Cooper, *Richard Best. G. Woodhouse. D. G. Matheson, E T. Jones, +G. W. Kitson, G. Williams, tD. Cronin, +J. Hogan, +J. McMahon, S. H. Chitterham, T. Clutterham, W. Barber, F. W. Jones, H. O. Jones. E. Thomas,R. M. Keily, W H Nicholls, C. R Edwards. J. L. O'Brien,
J. T.Bickhoff, J. S. Bickhoff.
*Died of illness. ++ Ill +Wounded.
1916 'A THRIVING DISTRICT.', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), 16 September, p. 14. , viewed 22 Apr 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6459193

Casualty List
Prisoners of War
Prisoners of War Arrived in England
Pte. S. A. Gransden, Snowtown
1919 'Casualty List', Recorder (Port Pirie, SA : 1919 - 1954), 14 February, p. 3. , viewed 22 Apr 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article95409642

Country trainers' licences granted were.
'97W. E. Dobbins, S. A. Gransden, G. Garrard, M. R. Morrison, and W. McGregor.
1927 'Answers to Correspondents.', Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), 29 January, p. 23. , viewed 22 Apr 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165626311

Stimpson married Agnes Hoyles Tester on 30 Jun 1920 in Kadina Church of Christ, 9 Taylor Street, South Australia.⁵⁵⁸

  Marriage Notes:

TESTER\emdash GRANSDEN.\emdash The marriage of Agnes H., fourth daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. Tester, of Clarendon, to Stimpson Alfred, late A.I.F., third son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Gransden, Railway-terrace, Snowtown, will be celebrated at Church Christ, Kadina, on 30th June, at 3 p.m. Friends and relatives cordially Invited to ceremony. No reception.
1920 'Family Notices', Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), 26 June, p. 12. , viewed 22 Apr 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89189643