Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918
Pte A T Swift. Courtesy of Kim Phillips
of the Spirits of Gallipoli website
Swift A T Pte 662 Alexander Thomas 14 Inf Bn 30 Salesman Single C of E
Address: Moonee Ponds, Thomas St, 1
Next of Kin: Swift, Mrs, mother, 1 Thomas St, Moonee Ponds
Enlisted: 18 Sep 1914
Embarked: A38 Ulysses 22 Dec 1914
Relatives on Active Service:
Swift A G Pte 2656 brother
Swift C H 2nd Lt brother
Swift L C Pte 4886 brother
Date of Death: 20/08/1915
CWGC: "Son of Alexander Greig Swift and Charlotte H. Swift, of 1, Thomas St., Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia".
LONE PINE MEMORIAL
Mentioned in these publications
Parish Magazine April 1915 p2
Aberfeldie Bowls Club Minutes 28 Sept 1915
History of the 14th Battalion, Roll of Honour, p367
Gilchrist G A L Cpl 416 letter in Essendon Gazette 14 Oct 1915
The Fair Dinkums by Glenn McFarlane, p 37
Alexander Thomas Swift with his teammates from the Essendon Baseball Club, seated in the front row second from the left, circa 1914. Photo: Sears Studio. Courtesy of the Moonee Valley Library Service Heritage Collection, HER-00072
The Essendon baseball club has entertained Mr. Alexander T. Swift, of Thomas street, Moonee Ponds, who has joined the Second Australian Expeditionary Force, and have presented him with a soldier's outfit and a silver cigarette case.
PATRIOTIC (1914, December 3).
Flemington Spectator (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88511758
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History of the 14th Battalion, AIF, by Newton Wanliss, 1929
ATTACKS ON HILL 60. 1915—August 20 to September 2.
Sgt. Swift was one of the best of the N.C.O's. p 71
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AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS WHO HAVE FALLEN AT THE DARDANELLES.
(1915, October 23). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), p. 29.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142981324
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A DARDANELLES HERO. THE LATE SERGEANT A. T. SWIFT
A gloom was cast over Essendon last week, when the sad news came through that Sergeant Alick T. Swift had been killed in action at the Dardanelles on the 20th August last. Sergeant Swift was a member of a highly-respected family who have been residing in Thomas street, Moonee Ponds, for many years. His father is a well known member of the local bowling club. "Lardy," as he was familiarly known, was connected with many sporting and social clubs in this city, amongst them being the Moonee Ponds cricket club, Essendon baseball club, the "Golliwog" Club and the "Beaver" Club, the last two being solely social institutions. Of the cricket club he was an ex-secretary, ex-treasurer and ex-captain, and had been an active member of the committee for a very long time and right up to his departure on active service. He had won the "B" team batting average on several occasions, was a good change bowler and a brilliant fieldsman.
Alick had also been a prominent player in the Essendon baseball club ever since its inception, and had been on the executive for the past eight or nine years, and was captain up to the time he answered his country's call. He was a most regular attendant at matches, and scarcely ever absent from his team. Apart from his abilities as a player, his fine sportsmanlike and unselfish qualities on the field were always admired by clubmates and opponents alike, and this accounted for the immense popularity which he enjoyed. His good-natured and jovial manner brought him into the good graces of all, and as a result he was never defeated in any club election in which he allowed himself to be nominated. Sergeant Swift was just in the prime of his life, being only 31 years of age. He was educated in Essendon, and was a member of the Essendon State School Old Boys' Association. He went to the front as a member of the 14th Battalion A.I.F. He has two brothers helping their country, viz. Lieutenant C. Swift, who was wounded about the time of the first landing in Gallipoli, and Private A. Swift, who left for the front recently. Sergeant Swift was four months in the trenches, and those who knew him on the field of sport know that on the battle-field he "played the game" and proved him self a man to the end. In business. "Alec" was engaged from his boyhood with Messrs. J. Spicer and Sons, of Lonsdale street, and his unfortunate ending had a very saddening effect on his employers and the staff, by whom he was always held in the highest esteem. He was regarded as one of the permanent "fixtures" of the warehouse. Mr. and Mrs. Swift and family are comforted in the knowledge that their son gave his life in the noblest of causes, and we join with a host of friends in extending to them our sincere sympathy.
A DARDANELLES HERO. (1915, September 30). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 5 Edition: Morning.. Retrieved January 15, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74590262
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Mentioned in this correspondence:
Eustace-H-P-Pte-1641 report in Essendon Gazette re smoke night from Baseball Club.
War Service Commemorated
Essendon Town Hall R-Y
St Thomas' Anglican Church*
St Thomas' Memorial Hall
Essendon State School *
Anzac Honoured Dead 20 Aug 1915
Essendon Gazette Roll of Honour killed
KILLED IN ACTION
SWIFT.---On the 20th August, at the Dardanelles,
Sergeant Alexander Thomas Swift, of 14th Battalion,
dearly loved eldest son of Mr. and Mrs.
Alex. G. Swift, of Moonee Ponds, aged 31 years.
The Argus 22 September 1915
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1562723
SWIFT. - A tribute to the memory of Alex. T.
Swift, of the 14th Battalion, killed in action on
the 20th August, 1915, at the Dardanelles.
(Inserted by the members of the Beavers'
Club, Moonee Ponds.)
The Argus 25 September 1915
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1564369
SERGEANT ALEX T SWIFT
was a well-known resident of Moonee Ponds.
He was 31 years of age and a member of the
State Schools Old Boys Association of Essendon.
He was a well known figure in local sports, being
an ex-secretary, and ex-captain of the Moonee
Ponds Cricket Club and a member of the
committee for a long period, and he also
won the batting averages on several occasions.
He had also been a prominent player of the present
Essendon Baseball Club ever since its inception.
In business he had been almost from boyhood
with Messrs J Spicer and Sons, of Lonsdale
street Melbourne
The Argus, Tuesday 28 September 1915
SWIFT. - An affectionate tribute to the memory of
Sgt. A. ("Alec") Swift, who always played the
game and died playing the "greater game" at Gallipoli,
about 18th September, from his fellow members of the
Moonee Ponds Cricket Club.
The Argus 2 October 1915
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1566880
BEREAVEMENT CARDS.
MR. and Mrs. ALEX G. SWIFT desire to express
their sincere THANKS to their many friends for
telegrams, letters, and cards in their sad bereavement.
1 Thomas st., Moonee Ponds.
The Argus 6 October 1915
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1567765
SERGEANT ALEX T. SWIFT
(killed) was the eldest son of Mr. A. G. Swift
of Thomas street, Moonee Ponds, and was
31 years of age. He was educated at Essendon
and was a member of the Essendon State School
Old Boys Association. He was a prominent member
of the Moonee Ponds Cricket Club, Essendon
Baseball Club, Golliwog Club, and Beavers
Club. Two brothers were at the front. The deceased
was engaged from boyhood with the firm of James
Spicer and Sons, Lonsdale street.
The Argus 12 October 1915
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1569905
In Memoriam
SWIFT.-In affectionate remembrance of Sgt.
Alex. Swift, 14th Battalion, who gave his life
for his King, country, and loved ones on 21st
August, 1915, in the battle of the "Lone-
some Pine." (Inserted by Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell
and family, "Gwynnington," Primrose st, Essendon.)
The Argus 21 August 1916
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1591392
No further notices in The Argus to 1918.
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