Alfred Edward Cronk, soldier of the 49th Battalion
By Greg Corbett, Engagement Officer, Anzac Square Memorial Galleries | 7 February 2025
A photo of Alfred Edward Cronk as published in The Queenslander.
He always did his work well, as far as I knew him, and never (knew) him to get into any serious trouble. I miss him very much …
Alfred Edward Cronk was a soldier of the 49th Battalion. His parents were separated when his father William found him a job with Queensland Railways, and both worked there as plate layers until Alfred enlisted (his father there to support him) in the AIF at Brisbane on 15 November 1915. He was 21 years old. Alfred embarked for Alexandria on H.T. Franconia before reaching the front in France on 20 August 1916. The 49th Battalion fought in its first major battle on the Western Front at Mouquet Farm in August and took over the front line trench from the 48th Battalion on 1 September.
A view of the famous Mouquet Farm, north of the road from Courcelette.
Private Ernest Harlow had travelled with Alfred to Egypt, England and then France, and as the fulfillment of a pact that the two had made he wrote Alfred’s mother, Mrs. Harriet Cronk, a letter.
… (I)t was a little agreement … before we went into the trenches, that if anything serious happened to me, Alf would write to my wife, and if anything happened to Alf, I would write his mother, so I am trying to keep my promise. (NAA 2024)
He went on to tell of the last time he saw ‘Alf’ alive.
Ernest was in the front line trenches and subsequently joined an attack on German positions, in which he was wounded. Meanwhile, Alfred was in a ‘fatigue party’, tasked with carrying rations and tea to those in the front lines, which Ernest called ‘an indispensable part of trench warfare’. Ernest saw Alfred at the end of a trench in good health, and they exchanged a few words before Ernest made his way to the dressing station.
Alfred appears to have been reported wounded in action and missing on 1 September 1916, but a court of enquiry held in July 1917 declared that he had in fact been killed in action on that date. Regarding the loss of his friend, Ernest wrote, ‘I miss him very much …’
A portrait of Alfred’s father William Cronk as published in The Queenslander.
Alfred’s father William also joined the AIF on 2 May 1917, stating his age as 44. He served as a trooper in the 2nd Light Horse Regiment, returning to Australia in March 1919. He passed away at the age of 91.
Alfred Edward Cronk is memorialised at Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
References
'1629 Cronk Alfred Edward' 2024, National Archives of Australia, viewed 31 December 2024, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3467308
49th Australian Infantry Battalion, 2024, Australian War Memorial, viewed 31 December 2024, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51489
A.E. Cronk, one of the soldiers photographed in The Queenslander Pictorial, supplement to The Queenslander, 1916, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 702692-19160819-s0026-0016, https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183928116802061
A view of the famous Mouquet Farm, north of the road from Courcelette, 1916, Australian War Memorial, viewed 31 December 2024, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C53825?image=2
AWM4 23/66/4 - September 1916, Australian War Memorial, viewed 31 December 2024, https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1007186/bundled/RCDIG1007186.pdf
W.J. Cronk, one of the soldiers photographed in The Queenslander Pictorial, supplement to The Queenslander, 1917, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 702692-19170714-s0026-0080, https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183929308702061
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