Captain E Lloyd Davies MC - Buckingham Palace
Albert Edward TREEBY MM
Date of birth | 13 August 1880 |
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Place | Brighton, Victoria, Australia |
Parents | William Brown and Sarah Jane (nee Wilkins) Treeby |
Date of death | 2 June 1962 |
Place | At the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia |
Age | 81 |
Scotch Year(s) | 1896 to 1900 |
Service record and post-war life
Albert Treeby, called ‘Prince’ at school, was the champion athlete of the school in 1900. He was outstanding at cricket and football. He played Firsts cricket for the four years from 1897-1900, captaining the team in the last two years, both of which saw them win premierships. He played football in the firsts for five years – 1896-1900, during which the team were premiers in all but 1899. He was in Cadets for four years.
Prince was a 34-year-old broker when he enlisted in Melbourne in August 1915. For reasons unknown he was reattested, that is enlisted again, in March 1916. By then he was a Sergeant with reinforcements to the 46th Battalion, and he sailed with them on 4 April 1916. He reached Egypt in May 1916 and England in June.
His movements until the end of the year are rather mysterious, but Prince went to England. He spent some time in hospital with illness and from January 1917 was with the 12th Training Battalion. Only in July 1917 did he leave that training unit and embark for France, where on 21 July he joined the 46th Battalion. Prince was now a Corporal, but in August was promoted Sergeant again. He fought at Messines. He clearly made a fine contribution, for in October 1917 he was awarded a Military Medal. Unfortunately neither the recommendation nor the citation are available. In November 1917 Albert was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. However, a medical board held in January 1918 found him unfit for general duties because of a knee injury sustained in an accident. He left England for Australia in April 1918.
Prince returned to work as a broker, but from 1931 until at least 1949 he worked as a clerk. By 1954 he was retired. He died at Heidelberg in 1962. Prince had married Jessie Jessiman Armstrong (d. 1919) in 1912, and then Kathleen Matilda Fitzgerald (d. 1950) in 1939. He had no children.
Photographs and Documents:
Albert Prince Treeby is at far left in the back row of this group of Old Boys at Broadmeadows, probably in early 1916. Albert would become an officer in 1917.
Sources:
- Australian War Memorial – Honours and Awards
- Mishura Scotch Database
- National Archives of Australia – B2455, TREEBY ALBERT EDWARD
- Scotch Collegian 1917
- The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=303934