| Accession Number | P09380.001 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white - Print silver gelatin |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Date made | 1917-1918 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Studio portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) Eric Mervyn Roach of Burra, SA. An electrician with one and a ...
Description
Studio portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) Eric Mervyn Roach of Burra, SA. An electrician with one and a half years service in the Citizens' Military Forces (CMF), Roach enlisted with the rank of Private on 26 August 1914. He embarked with the service number 437 from Adelaide aboard HMAT Ascanius (A11) with the 10th Battalion, Machine Gun Section on 20 October 1914. Private Roach was wounded in action on 25 April 1915 at Gallipoli, however he returned to the unit soon after. He was transferred to the 3rd Machine Gun Company in March 1916 and was promoted to Lance Corporal in August of that year. He was further promoted to Lieutenant on 25 November 1917. Lt Roach was killed in action on 10 August 1918, aged 27, and is buried at Heath Cemetery Harbonnieres, France. In a letter to the Base Record Office in Melbourne in 1922, his father quotes Euripides when discussing his son's "glorious end" - "Who knows but life be that which men call death, and death that men call life".