The mystery of the first Australian soldier to die in World War I has finally been solved and will see a Wellington local travel to Sydney to witness history being amended.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It has long been held by the Australian War Memorial that the first Australians to die in the war were Captain Brian Pockley and Able Seaman William Williams, but the Australian War Memorial will now recognise Lieutenant William Malcolm Chisholm as the first Australian to be killed in the Great War at the age of 22, nearly a month earlier.
Local Donald Chisholm, president of The Clan Chisholm Society Australian Branch, will be attending a commemorative service at St Stephen's Uniting Church Sydney along with the Governor of NSW on August 26, marking a century since Malcolm Chisholm was mortally wounded.
"It is proven beyond a doubt that he was the first Australian to be killed in the First World War," Mr Chisholm said.
"The documents had been in the hands of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, but it has only recently been collaborated by the French authorities that Lieutenant William Malcolm Chisholm was killed nearly a month earlier."
Lieutenant William Malcolm Chisholm,
known in the family as Malcolm Chisholm, was a former student of Sydney Grammar School who moved to England and studied to become an officer at Sandhurst.
He joined the British Army and was with the First East Lancashire Regiment in France during the Battle of Le Cateau in the first weeks of the war when he was hit by shrapnel in the stomach, dying a day later on August 27.
He had been found by his men lying wounded on the battlefield and while he urged them to go on without him they made a stretcher out of their great coats and rifles taking him to the first aid station where he died the next day.
Today, the village of Ligny-en-Cambresis still remembers him with the main street Rue Chisholm bearing his name.
Historian and great niece of Malcolm Chisholm, Airlie Moore told the ABC that it was no secret he had been the first Australian to die in the war.
After his death the family received a wreath from Queen Alexandra and letters from the King and Queen as well as the NSW government, expressing sympathy.
"War broke out and history overtook him," she said.
Looking back, Donald Chisholm said it made him proud to read Malcolm Chisholm's story, adding that the Chisholms had a very long history, having fought at Culloden in 1746.
Mr Chisholm said it was a cruel twist of fate that a Chisholm became the first Australian to be killed in WWI, but that his death was no more or less significant than that of every other Australian who died for the freedom we enjoy today.
"He was setting an example. His final words were 'let my people know that I died fighting like a soldier'."
"I kind of put myself in his shoes. I felt aligned with him and could just imagine how he must have felt."
"One-hundred years makes me realise these sorts of things go on forever. You are born into a family, you are born into a clan and that lasts forever, you go to a school, you join a regiment and forever you bring honour or dishonour to them all."
"Here is someone who brought honour to his family, school, regiment and to Australia."
It is a cruel twist of fate that a Chisholm became the first Australian to be killed in WWI, but his death is no more and no less significant than every other Australian that died for the freedom that we enjoy today.
but it has only recently been collaborated by the French authorities that Lieutenant William Malcolm Chisholm was killed nearly a month earlier."
