LANCE Corporal Keith Taylor Luscombe was associated with Muswellbrook and was born in Cassilis.
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His parents sent him to Sydney Grammar School. The young man was just 19 when he enlisted as a Private after working as a clerk prior to joining the Australian army.
He travelled to Marrickville and joined the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion leaving Sydney on the HMAT Argyllshire on September 30, 1915.
The young man was wounded in action at Pozieres in France and died from those wounds in the 57th Field Ambulance on July 27, 1916. In the section headed ‘Particulars required for the Nation’s histories’ his age is listed as “19 years, 11 months and three weeks.’
Private Keith Luscombe told authorities one of his relatives had already died in the war and the other had returned with the rank of Lieutenant after four years service.
Though still a teenager, Private Keith Luscombe’s documents reveal he had fought in Gallipoli and was twice wounded before he was sent to Egypt and finally to France where he ultimately met his fate.
He is remembered for his contribution to the region and Australia at France’s Albert Communal Cemetery Extension at Albert in Picardie.
The next projection of Keith Taylor Luscombe's name onto the exterior of the Australian War Memorial’s Hall of Memory in Canberra will be on, or about, Monday, June 1, 2015 at 9:22pm.
Robert and Mary Luscombe thought they had given one son for their country in 1916 when Keith died in France. What they didn’t know was another was to be taken from them less than nine months later.
He was Lance Corporal Broughton Taylor Luscombe who, like his father, was born in Muswellbrook.
The young man enlisted in the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion at Hurlstone Park in south west Sydney, leaving the city on board the HMAT Medic on December 30, 1915 about five months after he joined.
Military records say on April 18, 1917 Broughton Luscombe, nicknamed “Fred” by his mates, was with 26 other soldiers at Velu Railway Station in Bapaume, a farming and light industrial town, in northern France.
The company was just back from the front line and were in a cellar near the station where stores were kept.
Broughton Luscombe was acting post corporal and had been billeted in the cellar and was at the location with his mailbags when a booby trapped German mine exploded, killing 10 of the party and wounding many others.
A witness report said the bodies were dug up and buried in the Convent Garden near the station and marked with the usual plain white cross.
Broughton Luscombe was married just before he left Australia and was 26 when he died.
He is remembered at France’s Lebucquiere Communal Cemetery Extension, Lebucquiere at Arras in Nord Pas de Calais.
The next projection of Broughton Taylor Luscombe’s name onto the exterior of the Australian War Memorial’s Hall of Memory in Canberra will be on, or about, Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 9.30pm.
- Disclaimer: Fairfax Media has researched this ANZAC story to the best of our abilities using the records of the Australian War Memorial, the National Archives of Australia, the State Library of South Australia, the State Library of Victoria and State Records NSW, with the support of Muswellbrook Shire Local Family History Society, Upper Hunter Historical Society and local war records researcher, Denise Bell. However, it is possible there could be minor anomalies due to gaps in information or people's recollections over time.
