Eric Kingsley Abraham

Experiences of Eric Kingsley Abraham:

An Australian World War I veteran, known as Eric Kingsley Abraham, is notable for having been the last surviving recruit of Australia’s famous snowball march, the March of the Dungarees He had witnessed The Red Baron being shot down; the Red Baron was a deadly German fighter pilot known as Manfred con Richthofen As he was chasing down a plane, his “81st kill” (slq.qld.gov.au), was when it was suddenly shot down from behind by another plane on the 21st of April 1918

When Abraham was discharged in October 1919, he considered himself lucky to return home alive. He described the conditions at war as “ghastly”, due to the unpredictability of who would be killed in battle With mud up to the soldier’s ankles submerged their feet and made them susceptible to “Trench Foot”. Trench foot hindered their mobility and caused immense pain, soldiers endured this whilst also encountering heavy shell fire and action

Abraham, Eric Kingsley was a soldier who served on The Western Front, as a private in the 4th battalion volunteer defence corps (VDC), he enlisted on the 26th of November 1915 in Ipswich Queensland.

According to the virtual war memorial, “It was Eric’s spirit of adventure that motivated him to join the Dungaree recruitment march”, he submitted an enlistment form stating his age was 18 years and 7 months when he enlisted in Ipswich, despite being only 17 years old. Abraham was born on the 20th of April 1898 in Hemmant Queensland, and he died peacefully at the age 104 on the 20th of March 2003.