Malcolm John McGregor was born on 19 June, 1886. His parents,were Alexander Malcolm McGregor and Elizabeth Lilian McGregor, nee Rutherford. He was the eldest of four children born to the couple: Malcolm (1886), then Ernest (1889-1917), Robert (1891-1891), and Beatrice (1893 -?). When Malcolm McGregor enlisted on 15 June, 1915, he was living at 250 Albert St., East Melbourne, though this was probably a boarding house. he had been working as a clerk Moss and Barsden, Civil Servive Stores , for eighteen months, then four and a half years. He was 5' 9" in height, with dark brown hair and blue eyes, and gave his occupation 'laborer'. He had married Ellen May Roberts in 1908 and the couple had two children, Malcolm Frederic and Sydney Keith. May was living at the Royal Hotel, Wangaratta and nominated as his next of kin.
Malcolm McGregor began his military life as a Private with the 24th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcements and was sent to military camp in Seymour for training, then embarked on H.M.A.T. Anchises on 26 August, 1915, for Egypt. He was taken on strength with the 24th Battalion at Gallipoli on 24 October, 1915. With the evacuation of the Allied forces in December 1915 , he was returned to Egypt via Mudros, disembarking at Alexandria on 10 January, 1916.and placed with the 2nd Pioneer Battalion.
The Pioneer Battalions were raised in Egypt in 1916. The 2nd Pioneers were formed on 10 March that year and assigned to the 2nd Division. The soldiers were trained as infantry, but also given engineering tasks, with a large number of the men possessing trade qualifications in their civilian lives. On 26 April, 1916, along with the other 2nd Pioneers, Malcolm McGregor disembarked at Marseilles and made his way to the front. on 15 May
On 15 May, McGregor was promoted to Corporal. The Australians suffered heavy losses at Pozieres (23 July 1915), and took part in the battle of Mouquet Farm from July-August 1916. In 1917, after the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg line, the Pioneers were called on to develop attacks on the German defences. They also served in the Second Battle of Bullecourt (May 1917), the Third Battle of Ypres and the Hundred Days Offensive (Battle of Amiens). In October, 1917, the 2nd Pioneers took part in the final offensive of the 3rd Battle of the Somme, an attack to capture the German-held commune of Le Transloy, France.
It was at the Third Battle of the Somme that Malcolm McGregor was wounded, with a gunshot wound to his left ankle. He weas returned to England as spent three months in hospital at Wandsworth, and was placed on the Supernumery List, not to be returned to active service. On 1 January, 1917, he was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal.
The notice read: Awarded to 1931 Lance Sergeant Malcolm John McGregor for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He has performed consistent good work througout. On one occasion he traced out a new communications trench under heavy fire.
The notice was published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette no 116, 25 July 1917.
By then, he was back in Australia, leaving England on 8 November, 1917. On 19 February, 1919, he enlisted for home service as Staff Sergeant on Western Australia, and practising as a clerk 'enlisted for services in Australia - Perth- and only for such a period as services my be required.'Presumably, these services were to do with the returning soldiers and their transition to civilan life. In 1931, he was living in Seymour, Victoria.
His private life was messy. When he enlisted, he gave his wife, Ellen May McGregor, nee Roberts as his next of kin. However, in 1922, a letter from a Mr F. Dreyer of Western Australia was recieved by the military authorities. Mr Dreyer said that McGregor had married his daughter 'and it now appears that he had a wife in Victoria who was drawing his military pay for some time. Her Christian name is May'. Malcolm John McGregor had married Madeleine Isabel Dreyer in 1919. They were to divorce in 1926, presumably after she found out about his earlier marriage. He also had two other children with an un-named woman, Ivo Claud McGregor and Alice Jean McGrgor, twins born in 1910.
Malcolm John McGregor died at Claremont Town, Western Australia, on 25 November, 1949. He is buried at the Karakatta Cemetery.
N.A.A. Service Record Malcolm John McGregor 1931
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