Alexander Hutton Drysdal Crammond Jr.
Rank:
Private
Serial No:
Serial No. 627
Regiment:
5th Pioneer Battalion
Suburb:
Campbelltown
Alexander Hutton Drysdal Crammond Jr. - Information
Alex was one of many children of Scottish immigrants Alexander and Ellen Crammond. The Crammonds had lived in the Campbelltown area in the late 1890s, where Alex Jr. was born in 1896. When the war started, many of the Crammonds had moved to Dubbo, including Alex Jr. Alex was just 19 years old and working as a draper, when his father gave him permission to join the AIF. He enlisted in Liverpool on the 16th of July 1915.
Alex was placed with D Depot Company before being assigned to the 30th Battalion on the 2nd of August. On the 9th of November, Alex was shipped overseas sailing from Sydney on the HMAT Beltana. He arrived in Alexandria, and was transferred to the 5th Pioneer Battalion. In June 1916, he was transported to the Western Front in France. In January 1917, after serving during a cold and wet winter, frostbite developed on Alex's legs and feet and later turned septic. Alex was in danger of losing his feet, rushed to hospital in England. After an extensive recovery, he rejoined his unit in December 1917 and served with them until the end of the war, providing roads, billets, trenches, and other various services. Alex returned to Australia from England on the 8th of April 1919.