Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

03/11/1914

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

14/08/1894

Place of Birth

St. Kilda, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Samuel Locke (father), St Kilda, Victoria

Final Rank

Major

Final Unit

13 Battalion AIF

Military Cross (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 21 September 1916)
Mention in Despatches (10 April 1916, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.176)
Mention in Despatches (30 November 1916)

Locke entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 7 March 1912 and graduated on 2 November 1914. He was a member of the guard of honour at the naming ceremony at Canberra on 12 March 1913. Locke landed on Gallipoli on 26 April 1915 as a Lieutenant with the 13th Battalion and served as Staff Captain to the 4th Brigade commander John Monash during the Gallipoli campaign. The AWM image shows Locke (seated at right and wearing a pith helmet) with Monash at the 4th Brigade Headquarters on Gallipoli. From June 1916 until January 1917 he served on the Somme in France and during this period he was awarded the Military Cross and mentioned in despatches twice. After attending a Staff College in England, Locke was appointed as Brigade Major for the 3rd Infantry Brigade, a role he filled from March to September 1917 after which he returned home. He died on 3 April 1962 in Heidelberg, Victoria.

Charles Bean, 'Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18' (Vol. II p.653, Vol. III p.957)
Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
AWM Honours & Awards
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
NAA Discovering Anzacs - https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'The Honour Guard at the Canberra Commencement Ceremony', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial