Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

06/09/1916

Date of Discharge

07/11/1919

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

19/06/1896

Place of Birth

Goondah NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Thomas Marlan (father), Burrinjuck NSW

Final Rank

Captain

Final Unit

20 Battalion AIF

Marlan entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 12 March 1914 and graduated on 5 September 1916. He left Australia as a Lieutenant with reinforcements for the 20th Battalion and arrived in France just before Christmas 1916. At that time the 20th Battalion were positioned near Gueudecourt in the Somme region and within a week he was wounded in the leg and chest. That resulted in eight months of treatment and recuperation before Marlan rejoined the 20th Battalion on the eve of their entry into the Third Battle of Ypres in September 1917. He was mentioned in despatches for his role during the Battle of Menin Road in September 1917 when he "took charge when the Company commander was wounded. As they came under an intense barrage, Marlan went up and down the line instructing and cheering up his men". A few weeks later he received a severe gun shot wound to the right thigh during the attempt to capture Passchendaele and was sent to England for treatment. Shortly afterwards he was promoted to Captain and rejoined the 20th Battalion in December 1917. He ended the war as a Staff trainee with the British Army. Marlan served in World War 2 in North Africa but became a prisoner of war in 1941. He died on 9 September 1957 at Heidelberg, Victoria.

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)