Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

15/08/1914

Date of Discharge

30/05/1919

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

09/03/1879

Place of Birth

Pennakunda, Madras, India

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Mrs E.M. Ross (mother), London, England

Final Rank

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel

Final Unit

1 Anzac Headquarters AIF

Distinguished Service Order (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 24 January 1918 on page 79 at position 1)
Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (3 June 1918)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth Gazette: 6 April 1916 on page 861 at position 7)
Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette31 December 1918 on page 15225 at position 81)

Arthur Ross was an Englishman serving with the West Yorkshire Regiment when he was appointed as an instructor in tactics at the Royal Military College, Duntroon in December 1913. When the war began he became the orderly officer for the 3rd Infantry Brigade under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sinclair-Maclagan and embarked from Australia in October 1914 as a Captain on the brigade's headquarter staff.

The 3rd Brigade were the first Australian infantry to land on Gallipoli at dawn on 25 April 1915. Appointed a Major a few weeks later, Ross stayed with the 3rd Brigade until he was wounded in October 1915 and evacuated to England for treatment. Rejoining the AIF in Egypt in December 1915, Ross was appointed as commanding officer to the newly created 51st Battalion and given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Ross took his unit to France in June 1916 and led them during the fighting at Pozieres in July and August 1916. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his skill in planning and conducting the attack on Mouquet Farm on 3 September 1916.

In January 1917 Ross was posted to command the 1st Anzac Corps School and in September 1917 received a staff appointment to 1st Anzac Headquarters. He remained in staff positions for the rest of the war. In June 1918 Ross was made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) for his service in helping prepare plans for the AIF's military operations in Flanders and France before he was discharged from the AIF in England on 30 May 1919. Ross rejoined the West Yorkshire Regiment and took up a position in the Staff College at Camberley before retiring in 1922. He died on 15 November 1933.

Description - height 6 feet 1 inch, weight 175 pounds, chest 34-37 inches.

AWM Collections Record : C01450, E01296, H19215
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)
Melbourne Herald - 11 January 1934