Private Richard Charles Strangman

Service number 3725
Birth Date 1895
Death Date 16 May 1969
Also known as Strangman, Dick
Final Rank Private
Unit 56th Australian Infantry Battalion
Places
Conflict/Operation First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Private Richard Charles Strangman (No 3725) joined the AIF in May 1917. He was from Tumut, the son of Carey Strangman, and was 22 years old and single. He was a photographer by profession.

Allotted to the 10th Reinforcements of the 54th Battalion, he embarked in Sydney on 31 October 1917 on HMAT A14 (Euripides) and arrived in the UK in December. He was assigned to the 14th Training Battalion in Codford before going over to France in early April 1918, joining the 54th Battalion in the field near Villers-Bretonneux. On 28 August, nearing Peronne, he suffered wounds to the fingers of his left hand, but was able to rejoin his unit later that day.

On 11 October the remnants of the 54th and 56th Battalions amalgamated to form the 56/54th Battalion. Strangman remained with this unit (often referred to as just the 56th Battalion), until his return to Australia in July 1919 aboard the Friedrichsruh. Arriving back in Sydney in early September 1919, he was discharged from the AIF later that month. Strangman continued his career as a commercial photographer after the war, in Tumut and then in Canberra. Strangman took many photographs of the Australian War Memorial site, construction and galleries in the 1930s and 1940s.

Rolls

Timeline

Date of death 16 May 1969
Date of birth 1895
Date of enlistment 21 May 1917
Date of embarkation 31 October 1917
Date returned to Australia 08 July 1919