Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

18/08/1914

Date of Discharge

11/06/1919

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

24/01/1894

Place of Birth

Glenelg, South Australia

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Charles Irwin (father), Grenfell Street, Adelaide, South Australia

Final Rank

Major

Final Unit

3 Division Artillery Headquarters AIF

Distinguished Service Order (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.61, 23 May 1919)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.169, 4 October 1917)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.57, 18 April 1918)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.61, 23 May 1919)

Irwin entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 22 June 1911 in the first intake of cadets and was a member of the Honour Guard at the naming ceremony in Canberra on 12 March 1913. At the outbreak of the war, his class was graduated early (on 14 August 1914) and Irwin was appointed as a Lieutenant with the 8th Battery, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade. He landed on Gallipoli on 26 April 1915 as an artillery officer and fought there until evacuated sick in August 1915. He returned to Australia in February 1916 and took up a position as an instructor at RMC but in May that year he embarked for England as a Captain with the 28th Battery, 7th Field Artillery Brigade.

In July 1916 Irwin was appointed as Staff Captain with the 3rd Division Artillery and was promoted to Major in August 1917 before taking over command of the 25th Battery (7th Field Artillery Brigade) in February 1918. He received what was described in the recommendation for the DSO as a "severe" gun shot wound to the buttock in June 1918. Irwin was also Mentioned in Despatches three times (including for his role in the preparations for the Battle of Messines). He served in World War 2 and died on 1 August 1946 at Mt. Barker, South Australia.

Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
The Duntroon Society, 'The First Class', Newsletter 2/2011
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