Railway fireman Private Reginald William Cracknell, 24, a member of St Philip’s Anglican Church Auburn and ex-pupil of Auburn Public School, lived at 24 Edgar Street, Auburn. Cracknell is an example of an Auburn Memorial man who served in the AIF for a long time but, because of training periods, the sea voyages, diseases, wounds, and crimes, he spent only a moderate time on front-line service.
Cracknell enlisted on 17 June 1915 and embarked on the Runic two months later. On 2 December 1915, he was taken on strength of the Anzac 17th Battalion on the Gallipoli Peninsular. Thus Cracknell was on Gallipoli only 18 days before the evacuation. Back in Alexandria on 9 January 1916, Cracknell spent the next six months in Egypt in and out of hospitals with VD and Venereal Warts. He finally reached the Front in France in July 1916, having been reallocated to the 55th Battalion. In the following two years, Cracknell was in and out of hospital many times and on several occasions he was posted to base duties.
In this period, Cracknell was 'Absent without Leave (AWL) from 2pm till apprehended by MP at 7.30pm' resulting in forfeiture of 7 days pay. Six months later, Cracknell was ‘AWL for six days’ resulting in 28 days Field Punishment and total forfeiture of 35 days pay. In October 1917, Cracknell was granted leave to Britain.
Back in France, Cracknell was wounded in March 1918 and was out of the line for two months. Returning to the 55th Battalion on 9 May 1918, Cracknell was killed in action eight days later. Though he had been in the AIF nearly three years, his front-line service was around six or seven months in total.
For his grave in the Daours Communal Cemetery Extension his parents chose the inscription ’The Lord Gave and the Lord hath Taken Away’. An image of his headstone is shown below.