BERGMEIER, Alexander Stanley

Alexander Stanley Bergmeier was born on 8 January, 1889, to Henry and Annie Bergmeier, of Bass, Victoria. He grew up on a farm and, on enlistment, gave his occupation as farmer. He was 26 years and 7 months when he signed on 15 July, 1915, 5' 8", with brown hair and brown eyes, listing his address at embarkation, 69 Grey St., East Melbourne, the home of Mrs Annie Morgan. She was probably his sister, as he left his full estate to her in his will. Originally he was assigned to the 31st battalion, 2-12 Reinforcements, but on 6 March, 1916, he was transferred to the 46th Battalion. 

The 31st Battalion was raised partly in Brisbane and partly at Broadmeadows in Victoria. Alex Bergmeier's record has him departinng from Melbourne on HMAT Kyarra on 29 December, having undergone training at Broadmeadows. The Kyarra sailed to Egypt, where the 31st Battalion joined the 5th Division, proceeding to France in June 1916. Alex Bergmeier had by then left the 31st and transferred to the 46th Battalion. This seems to have occurred because he was ill and it may be that it was easier to transfer him to a battalion still in Egypt, rather than send him on to France as a single soldier. Whatever the reason for the decision, the 31st was to fight at Fromelles on 19 July 1916 and suffer 572 casualties, a terrible baptism from which Alex Bergmeier  was saved.

The 46th Battalion had been raised in Egypt on 24/ 2/ 1916, as part of the 'doubling' of the AIF following the losses at Gallipoli. It consisted of half veterans of the campaign and half new recruits. They arrived in France on 8 June 1916 and proceeded to the Western Front. where their first major battle was at Pozieres. Here they were not on the front line, but carried supplies and ammunition to the troops who were fighting. They were then engaged in defending the ground that had been won. On 13 August, Alex Bermeier suffered the first wound of three he would sustain, a gunshot wound to his right foot, considered slight. He was sent back to England from Boulogne on the Stad Antwerpen and admitted to Bradford War Hospital, Bradford, on 19 August 1916. He was discharged three days later and  later sent to Codford to complete his recovery and undergo further training.

He was not sent back to the front until July of 1917, rejoining the 46th Battalion on 4 August. By then, they were in Belgium, fighting on the Ypres salient taking part in the battles at Messines Ridge (June) and Passchendaele (July-November). It was during this period that Alex Bergmeier was wounded for the second time, again lightly (3/11/1017). Though no description was placed in his record, he was undoubtedly in the thick of the action and was commended for the Military Medal on 16 October, 1917, for bravery in the field. 

He again rejoined his unit from England, being taken on strength on 14 July, 1918. He was back in hospital in March that year and then, on 8 August, wounded again, this time by a gunshot wound in the right thigh. Following this, he was discharged as medically unfit, leaving the army on 16 March, 1919.

Alex Bergmeier married Lilian Elsie Hade on 20 February, 1920. In 1924, they were back in his home, living at Bass where he worked as a farmer. By the 1930s, they had moved to East Hawthorn, Melbourne He had a riding school in Toorak Rd., an occupation he followed until at least 1943. He then went back to Gippsland, where he worked as a share farmer.They moved from Gippsland in the 1950s to start a poultry farm business but at Flora Hill, Bendigo. He was still living at Flora Hill when he died, aged 88, on 20 February, 1977.