Alfred Shout was educated privately in New Zealand and from there went to South Africa as a Sergeant with a Border Horse 1900-1902. (New Zealand Contingent). He was Mentioned in despatches and made Queen’s sergeant, he was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal, and the Kings South Africa Medal. He served as a Sergeant with the Cape Field Artillery until 1907, Married to Rose Alice they had one child a daughter Florence Agnes Maud Shout who was born at Capetown, South Africa, June 11, 1905.

When he moved to Australia and joined the Citizen Forces from 1907-1915 with the 29th Infantry Regiment (Australian Rifles) while working as a carpenter and joiner, and settled in Darlington, a Sydney suburb.

He obtained his commission as 2nd Lieutenant June 16, 1914 and was appointed to the AIF on 27th August 1914 as 2nd Lieutenant and served with F Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Division Australian Imperial Forces.

The 1st Battalion was formed at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia, on 15th August 1914, and just 2 months later on 18th October following delays due to the presence of German cruisers in the Pacific it [1st Battalion] marched to Woolloomooloo through very heavy rain where they boarded the transport A.19. S.S. Afric bound for England.

They sailed without escort to Princess Royal Harbour, Albany, Western Australia  where they met up with two New Zealand brigades, the contingent onboard 36 transports including the Afric & Suffolk were on November 1 escorted by the Australian light cruisers H.M.A.S. Sydney and H.M.A.S. Melbourne, and the H.M.S. Orvieto and a Japanese cruiser.

This convoy made up of passenger and converted cargo ships carried 20,758 members of the First A.I.F. and 7, 479 Horses. On the first day out from Albany they learnt that England had declared war on Turkey.

The Australians had thought that they were on their way to Salisbury Plain in England for training but due to the shortage of accommodation and training facilities in England it was decided to send them to Egypt.

Five days out they passed the mail steamer Osterley that had had a narrow escape from the German Raider, Emden.

From the deck of the Afric on 9th November 1914 men of the First Division watched as the H.M.A.S Sydney sailed off to intercept the German cruiser Emden which was attacking a wireless station at Cocos Island. The H.M.A.S. Sydney in what was the first action by the Royal Australian Navy out manoeuvred the Emden, which it disabled before running it aground.

Their first port of call after crossing the equator on November 12, was Colombo, where escort duty was taken over by H.M.A.S. Hampshire. During this first part of the voyage 329 men had been treated by the ship’s hospitals, of these 62 had measles and 55 Influenza.

The passed Aden and on 1 December, at Suez they received definite orders they were to disembark in Egypt and do their training there. They called at Port Said and then Alexandria where they landed December 8 and boarded a train for the 20 km journey to Mena a village located in the shadows of the Sphinx and three Pyramids where they set up a training camp,

Promoted to Lieutenant 1 February 1915, Shout soon after went into action in defence of the Suez Canal which was under attack from 80,000 Turks. The battle lasted a day and a night with the Australians taking 600 prisoners who were described by their captors as having hardly any clothes and being on the verge of starvation, so much so that many of the Australians felt sorry for them.

On the 23rd March they again went into action against the Turks and after a short battle took a further150 prisoners,

By the end of March 1915 a township consisting of shops of all kinds including five picture shows and a boxing stadium had been built near the Australian training camp

On April 2nd, Good Friday, the Australians were told they would be leaving Egypt within a week, but were not told of their destination.

On Anzac Day, 25th April 1915 the First Division as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force under the command of General Sir Ian Hamilton made an amphibious landing at Ari Burnu Point (Anzac Cove). Two days later 1km South near Gaba Tepe, Lieutenant Shout showed conspicuous courage by continually exposing himself to the enemy while organizing and planning a successful bayonet charge against the Turks, which he led.

Then with the position secured Shout and a Corporal left the trench, which was being continually swept with machine-gun fire, and advanced further into no-mans land, where they dug in before proceeding to snipe at the Turks.

In the words of No 789 Pte Charles Huntley Thompson of the 13th Battalion, "That was the bravest thing I ever saw" for this Shout was awarded the Military Cross and was Mentioned in Despatches.

The 1st Division suffered 366 casualties between April 25 and 29 one being Lieutenant Shout, who was wounded when a bullet passed through his arm and entered his chest, he recovered from his wounds aboard ‘HS Gascon’ before rejoining his unit on 26 May 1915.

On 29th July Shout was promoted to Captain. Then given a special Mention in Despatches by General Sir Ian Hamilton.

After months of fighting on Gallipoli, it was decided to create a diversion for a planned British landing in Suvla Bay, part of that diversion would be an attack on the Lone Pine trenches by the 1st Infantry Brigade of the 1st Division of the AIF.

The night proceeding the charge at Lone Pine, Shout in an effort to relieve the anxiety of members of his platoon had spoken at length of the coming event, he conclude by telling No 721 L/Cpl Alexander Ross McQueen "We will make a name for Australia and ourselves tomorrow Mac".

At midday on 6 August 1915 Captain Shout MC., issued his men with a white strip of calico to sew on the arms and back of their tunics. This was to indicate to the artillery the position of the Australian infantry during the soon to be launched Battle for Lone Pine.

At 4pm with the troops in position the Artillery commenced bombarding the Turkish trenches, the Turkish artillery quickly met the challenge and returned their fire. At 5.40pm the men of the 1st were lined up ready to go over the top. The 1st Infantry Brigade led the charge and reaching the first trench found it difficult to attack as it was covered with logs, so while some stayed and infiltrated the first trench the others were ordered on to the second trench.

The Australians took Lone Pine within the hour, then with the Turks counter attacking the Defence of Lone Pine was underway it continued for five days, casualties were high on both sides with the Australians losing 80 officers and 2,197 other ranks during that five days. While the Turkish 16th Division lost almost 7,000.

Seven Australians were to be awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions at Lone Pine.

One posthumous award was to Captain Alfred John Shout MC. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on August 9 1915, which cost him his life.

The 1st Battalion had relieved the 7th on the morning of 9 August, at a section known as Sasse’s Sap. Captain Cecil Duncan Sasse (later Lieutenant Colonel) DSO & Bar., of the 4th Battalion had captured a section of the enemies trench, but when the 1st arrived the enemy had reoccupied a large area of the captured trench.

Shout and Sasse enlisted the aid of eight volunteers and following Sasse’s plan of attack that had previously been successful they charged down the trench with Shout bombing and Sasse shooting,

The eight volunteers then built a barricade as each section of trench was secured, all went well and Shout who was reportedly enjoying the fight was preparing for the final dash of the day to capture just one more section of the trench.

Lighting three bombs he set off down the trench and had hurled two before the third went off prematurely blowing off his hand and severely injuring his face and body. Shout continued to direct this attack, then murmured "Good old First Brigade, well done!" before he lost consciousness through loss of blood. He died from his wounds at sea onboard HMHS Neuralia 11 August, 1915.

Both No 789 Pte Charles Huntley Thompson, from Maitland NSW, and No 721 L/Cpl Alexander Ross McQueen from Gloucester, NSW. were repatriated back to Australia during the latter part of 1915.

At Home.

Rose Shout was advised in a cable dated 5 May, 1915 that Alfred had been wounded, (April 27th 1915) her reply to the cable was received 28 May. In which she sought news of her husband and his whereabouts, it was 15 August before the Army sent a further cable telling Rose that Alfred had been wounded a second time.

Then the system completely broke down records show he died 11 August. These were then altered 20 August to not dead onboard ‘Thermistocles’ returning to Australia, The Australian press then published news of his return adding that he would arrive in Sydney mid September.

The confusion had started when the Army received a cable from Alexandria saying Shout could not be dead as he was on board ‘Thermistocles’ wounded and on his way to Australia.

At a later inquiry the official explanation stated that "Lieutenant A. J. Shirt the wounded man on board ‘Thermistocles’ had been mistaken for Lieutenant A. J. Shout. A search of records in both Australia and New Zealand fail to confirm the existence of a Lieutenant A. J. Shirt.

Rose Shout was then informed of her Husbands death. Unlike his father John Shout, who lived in New Zealand who was to learn belatedly of his son’s reported death from a Newspaper and then wrote to the Army on October 4, seeking conformation of his son’s death or wounding.

Things did not improve Rose Shout was then awarded a pension of ninety one pound ($182) per year and her daughter Florence Agnes Maud Shout b Capetown, South Africa, 11 June 1905. Thirteen pound per year as the widow and child of Lieutenant A. J. Shout. Rose had to remind the Army that her husband was a Captain at the time of his death and also that he was the holder of the Victoria Cross .

While conceding that Shout had been promoted to Captain just days before he was mortally wounded, on November 19, 1915 the Officer in charge of base records still had no knowledge of the Victoria Cross being awarded to Shout.

The pension paid to Rose was then increased by ten pound ($20) per year and Florence had her pension doubled.

Alfred Shout VC’s identity disc was sent to Rose Shout in December 1918, A Certificate acknowledging his being Mentioned in Despatches was not received by Rose until July 1921, it was a further eighteen months before Rose Shout received the Memorial Scroll and Kings Message.

Shortly after the war the citizens of Darlington, Sydney commemorated the name of Alfred Shout on a memorial plaque unveiled at Darlington. This plaque is now held at the Victoria Barracks Museum, along with other memorabilia donated 1980 by Florence Agnes Maud Thomas, the daughter of Alfred and Rose Shout.

In 2001 the Redfern R.S.L. Sub Branch. Sydney Australia placed a framed Montage which included Replica Medals and photographs of Captain Alfred Shout VC., MC., MiD. at Gallipoli, in the foyer of the Club.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• I owe a great deal to 

  • Mr Chris Roberts of Tascott, New South Wales and 

  • Mr Graham Thomas a Grandson of Captain Alfred Shout VC., MC., MiD. who encouraged and assisted me in the writing of this story.