Contributed by Ron Inglis, October 2021:
4270 Duncan Leslie Syme was one of three Syme brothers to die in the First World War. One brother, John William Syme, had been killed on Gallipoli in May 1915, while another brother, Peter McInnes Syme, would die in France by accident in December 1918. Each brother is named on a different memorial: Auburn War Memorial, NSW Govt. Railways and Tramways First World War Roll of Honour, and Morongla Creek First World War Roll of Honour respectively.
Auburn Memorial man Duncan Syme may not have been directly connected to Auburn. On enlistment in Lithgow in September 1915, Duncan declared his age as ’19 years 5 months’ and that he had completed five and a half years apprenticeship as a printer with the Lithgow Mercury. For his next-of-kin he nominated one of his aunts, Mrs Margaret Knight of Hampstead Road, Auburn. Mrs Knight was Duncan's late father's sister.
Private Syme embarked on the Aeneas in December 1915. Arriving in Egypt a month later, Syme was allocated to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Australian Division. The battalion moved on to the Western Front, arriving at the French port city of Marseilles on 28 March 1916.
The troops were taken by train to the Nursery Sector near Armentieres in the far north of France, but after settling in there, the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions were brought back down to the Somme in early July ready to be sent into battle at the village of Pozières. Duncan was killed in action on 25 July 1916. His body was never found, therefore his name was inscribed on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, when the memorial was unveiled in 1938.
It seems likely Duncan's aunt Margaret put his name forward to the Auburn War Memorial committee.
See: 'War casualties', The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday, 26 August 1916, page 18. The newspaper has misspelt Duncan's surname as ‘Duncan L. Lyne’.
Duncan Syme is honoured on the following memorials in Australia:
- Auburn War Memorial
- Municipality of Auburn 1914-1919 Honour Roll
- Lithgow’s Fallen Heroes War Memorial
- Roll of Honour Australian War Memorial Canberra
His decorations:
- British War Medal 1914-20
- Victory Medal
