Lt Col
Alan Humphrey Scott
Information about birth
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Date of birth: 03/04/1891 |
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Place of birth: Tumut, New South Wales, Australia |
General information
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Profession: Clerk |
Army information
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Country: Australia |
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Force: Australian Imperial Force |
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Rank: Lieutenant Colonel |
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Service number: / |
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Enlistment date: 28/08/1914 |
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Units: — Australian Infantry, 56th Bn. (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 01/10/1917 |
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Place of death: Butte, Polygon Wood, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 26 |
Cemetery
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Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood Plot: II Row: A Grave: 12 |
Distinctions and medals 7
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1914-15 Star Medal |
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British War Medal Medal |
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Distinguished Service Order (DSO) Medal — 29/10/1915 |
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Mentioned in Despatches Honourable mentioning — 04/01/1917 |
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Mentioned in Despatches Honourable mentioning — 01/06/1917 |
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Mentioned in Despatches Honourable mentioning — 28/12/1917 |
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Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 1
| #1 | Place of birth |
My story
Alan Scott was the son of Donald and Maria Scott of Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia. He was born on 3 April 1891 in Tumut, New South Wales – recorded as Allan on his birth certificate.
He was educated at Sydney Grammar School and did territorial army service from 1909 with the NSW Scottish Rifles and 25th Infantry. He resigned with the rank of lieutenant.
When Alan Scott enlisted on 28 August 1914 he was employed by Dalgety & Co as a clerk. He was posted to 4th Battalion AIF with the rank of lieutenant. Just before the battalion embarked on the Euripides on 20 October 1914, he was promoted to captain.
The 4th Battalion fought at Gallipoli from 25th April 1915. Alan Scott was awarded the DSO for ‘Conspicuous gallantry in the attack on Lone Pine, Gallipoli Peninsular on 6th-7th August 1915’. Shortly after he was made temporary major, later confirmed in November 1915.
Back in Egypt after the Gallipoli evacuation, he was given command of 56th Battalion, with temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel. This was confirmed with his promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 18 March 1916.
Alan Scott and 56th Battalion travelled to France and the Western Front theatre in June 1916. During 1917 he temporarily commanded 14th Brigade on several occasions.
As part of the Third Battle of Ypres, 56th Battalion (14th Brigade, 5th Australian Division) took part in the Battle of Polygon Wood beginning 26 September 1917. The brigade attacked and captured Polygon Butte. On 30 September the battalion was relieved by 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. The take-over was completed by 10.30pm but Lt-Col Scott remained at his HQ at the Butte to finalise the change of troops.
Alan Scott’s younger brother , 2nd Lieutenant Lee Scott MC, also served in 56th Battalion at this time. A German bunker in Polygon Wood, captured by 56th Battalion on 26 September was later known as Scott Post bunker and still exists in Polygon Wood. Another brother , William Scott, DSO and MID, served with 13th and 20th Battalions of AIF.
On 1 October at 6.15am and 9am German attacks were launched against the Welsh Fusiliers – they were defeated by artillery and small-arms fire. Later, while near the Butte, Lt-Col Scott and a British officer he was guiding, Lt-Col Dudley Turnbull, were shot dead by a German sniper sometime before 11am. When the news reached the battalion, a party was sent to retrieve his body but by the time it arrived, he had already been buried behind the Butte.
He is now buried in Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood. During 1917 Alan Scott received three MIDs (Mention in Despatch), the last after his death.
He was educated at Sydney Grammar School and did territorial army service from 1909 with the NSW Scottish Rifles and 25th Infantry. He resigned with the rank of lieutenant.
When Alan Scott enlisted on 28 August 1914 he was employed by Dalgety & Co as a clerk. He was posted to 4th Battalion AIF with the rank of lieutenant. Just before the battalion embarked on the Euripides on 20 October 1914, he was promoted to captain.
The 4th Battalion fought at Gallipoli from 25th April 1915. Alan Scott was awarded the DSO for ‘Conspicuous gallantry in the attack on Lone Pine, Gallipoli Peninsular on 6th-7th August 1915’. Shortly after he was made temporary major, later confirmed in November 1915.
Back in Egypt after the Gallipoli evacuation, he was given command of 56th Battalion, with temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel. This was confirmed with his promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 18 March 1916.
Alan Scott and 56th Battalion travelled to France and the Western Front theatre in June 1916. During 1917 he temporarily commanded 14th Brigade on several occasions.
As part of the Third Battle of Ypres, 56th Battalion (14th Brigade, 5th Australian Division) took part in the Battle of Polygon Wood beginning 26 September 1917. The brigade attacked and captured Polygon Butte. On 30 September the battalion was relieved by 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. The take-over was completed by 10.30pm but Lt-Col Scott remained at his HQ at the Butte to finalise the change of troops.
Alan Scott’s younger brother , 2nd Lieutenant Lee Scott MC, also served in 56th Battalion at this time. A German bunker in Polygon Wood, captured by 56th Battalion on 26 September was later known as Scott Post bunker and still exists in Polygon Wood. Another brother , William Scott, DSO and MID, served with 13th and 20th Battalions of AIF.
On 1 October at 6.15am and 9am German attacks were launched against the Welsh Fusiliers – they were defeated by artillery and small-arms fire. Later, while near the Butte, Lt-Col Scott and a British officer he was guiding, Lt-Col Dudley Turnbull, were shot dead by a German sniper sometime before 11am. When the news reached the battalion, a party was sent to retrieve his body but by the time it arrived, he had already been buried behind the Butte.
He is now buried in Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood. During 1917 Alan Scott received three MIDs (Mention in Despatch), the last after his death.
Sources 6
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56th Australian Infantry Battalion, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 23/73/21). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Sources used |
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Derycke K. en Ingelbrecht L., Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 visitor guide, (Gent, Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen, 2015), pg. 86. Sources used |
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First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, SCOTT A H). https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx. Sources used |
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NSW Government Registry of Births, Death, Marriages http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/Pages/family-history/family-history.aspx Sources used |
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Trove Australia http://www.trove.nla.gov.au Sources used |
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Williams, Harold Roy, An ANZAC on the Western Front : the personal reflections of an Australian infantryman from 1916 to 1918, (Barnsley, Pen and Sword Military, 2012), pg. 107, 111. Sources used |
More information 3
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/480444 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=0d674f0e-b4d8-4646-bff6-fb677b09ae40 |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7328385 |