Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

25/08/1914

Place of Enlistment

Enogerra, Queensland

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

20/08/1888

Place of Birth

Mount Gambier, South Australia

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

School(s) Attended

Mount Gambier Grammar School (South Australia)

Occupation

Drill instructor, Royal Military College

Next of Kin

Son of Dugald and Elizabeth Steele of Muirhome, Mount Gambier, South Australia

Burial Place

No known grave.

Service Number

41

Final Rank

Major

Final Unit

11 Battalion AIF

Died (killed in action) on 7 October 1917 at Broodseinde Ridge, Belgium aged 29 years

AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 64, Canberra ACT
The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 17), Belgium

Distinguished Conduct Medal (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 11 September 1915, page 1746, position 39)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 28 October 1915, page 2737, position 7)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 29 June 1917, page 1393, position 140)
Distinguished Service Order (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 29 June 1917, page 1389, position 73)

After completing school at Mount Gambier Grammar School, Steele worked for a local bootmaker who inspired him to join the South Australian Infantry Regiment. He was appointed to the Administrative and Instructional Staff of the Permanent Military Forces in 1910 and posted to Gawler. In September 1913 Steele became an instructor at the Royal Military College in infantry and musketry. On a trip to Queensland he enlisted at the outbreak of war in August 1914 as a Staff Sergeant Major with the machine gun section of the 9th Battalion. The men of the 9th Battalion are generally credited with being the first Australians to land at Anzac Cove at dawn on 25 April 1915. He was promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant a few days later and was wounded in the arm during the Turkish attack on 19 May. He returned to Gallipoli in August 1915 as a lieutenant with the 9th Battalion but was seconded as the 3rd Brigade Machine Gun officer in December 1915. For his work on Gallipoli, Steele was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for maintaining his machine gun in action for several days after the rest of his section had been killed or wounded.

Steele was promoted to Captain in the 3rd Brigade Machine Gun Company after returning to Egypt and then to the rank of Major in 1916. In December 1916 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his command of the 3rd Brigade's machine gunners and also mentioned in despatches. He was described shortly after at an Officer's School in Aldershot as "a real bulldog, always smiling. Full of confidence and energy." He was given temporary command of the 10th Battalion during the Second Battle of Bullecourt in May 1917 before being transferred to the 11th Battalion. Steele was acting Commanding Officer when he was killed during a German bombardment on Broodseinde Ridge on 7 October 1917. He was in battalion headquarters when it was hit by German shells. Apparently all that remained was his tunic.

Description - height 5 feet 7¾ inches, weight 161 pounds, chest 35-38½ inches, fair complexion, hazel eyes, light brown hair, Presbyterian, deep scar inside right calf.

AWM Roll of Honour Database
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
AWM Collections Record : 2DRL/0409, A04160
WWI Nominal Roll http://www.awm.gov.au/nominalrolls/ww1
Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
Australian Dictionary of Biography online
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/adbonline.htm
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Queanbeyan Age - 28 February 1913, 14 September 1915
Observer (Adelaide) - 3 November 1917