David Laing (1878-1915)
Gateshead born veteran of Boer War killed in action serving with ANZAC forces at Gallipoli
As a veteran of the Boer War, David Laing soon found himself in the front line of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) when he enlisted in 1914. He did not survive long in the Front Line at Gallipoli, he died in the heat and the dirt there just eight months later.
David came from Gateshead where his father, James Laing, was a draper’s assistant from Scotland. There were seven children in the family, of whom David was the fifth and the youngest son. He was born in 1878/79 though on his attestation papers, he is recorded as being two years younger than his actual age at the time.
Perhaps seeking adventure, in 1901, David enlisted as a trooper in the First Battalion of the Imperial Light Horse Regiment, to serve in South Africa during the Boer War. Over the next nine months, he fought in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, until the end of the conflict.
David was discharged from the British Army on 30 June 1902, and returned to County Durham. But five years later, he developed wanderlust again; he left Liverpool for Sydney on 26 April 1907, on board the “Dorset”. The ship’s Passenger List shows that he intended to work in farming, though it is unlikely it ever became a reality, as he settled in central Sydney.
When war with Germany was declared, David was one of the earliest volunteers. He enlisted at Rosebery Camp in Sydney on 17 September 1914 and became a Private in the 13th Battalion, 9th Infantry of the Australian Imperial Force.
With other recruits, David embarked from Melbourne on the “Ulysses” on 22 December 1914 and arrived in Egypt in early February. Two months later, on 12 April, the 13th Battalion set sail for Gallipoli and landed at ANZAC Cove late in the afternoon of 25 April.
For the next four months, the 13th battalion undertook defensive operations as the ANZAC forces struggled to establish themselves on the narrow beachhead that had been captured on the peninsula. Another Durham lad (J W Appleby) described how the constant noise of the big guns on the heights above them, thundered around the bay, day and night.
ANZAC losses on the beach were appalling, with 1805 young soldiers slaughtered on 4 May 1915 alone. Among them was Private David Laing of Gateshead.
Civil Parish: Gateshead
Birth date: 1878/79
Death date: 04-May-1915
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 10 Radbourne Terrace, Gateshead (ecclesiastical parish of Christ Church 1881 census)
Oxnam House, Oxnam Crescent, Newcastle -on-Tyne (1891 & 1901 census)
Employment: Labourer
Family: Parents: James Laing (1845-1906), Mary Jane Laing (nee Theaker 1844-1928 originally from Leeds)
Siblings: Janet E Laing (b 1866), John Laing (b 1870), James R Laing (b 1872), Dora M Laing (b 1876), Eleanor Laing (b 1880), Ada Laing (b 1882)
Military service:
Pre-War Service: Trooper 3222 in 1st Battalion Imperial Light Horse Regiment (1901-1902)
Service number 748
Private
13th Battalion, AIF
Enlisted at Rosebery Camp, Sydney, on 17-09-1914. Killed in Action
Medal(s): 1914/15 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal
Gender: Male
Contributed by Kelloe Visitor, Trimdon Station