SAUNDERS, Augustus George

Augustus was the eldest of five children born to Sidney and Louisa Saunders.  His birth was registered at Barraba NSW in 1886.  He was educated at Tingha Public School NSW. During 1907 he married Ivy Cowan and they had a son before she died the following year. When Augustus enlisted at Armidale in February 1916 he was working as a Miner at Tingha. 

He became a member of the 33rd Battalion D Company and, following training at Armidale and Rutherford, sailed from Australia on HMAT A74 Marathon in May 1916. After arriving in England in July, further training was undertaken with the 3rd Division at Salisbury Plain.  Augustus was sent to France in September. Just nineteen days later he was badly wounded and died the following day. Private Saunders was buried at Dartmoor Cemetery, Becourt, France. His few remaining possessions were returned to his father.

At Tingha Memorial services were held for Augustus and the Tingha Advocate newspaper 15 December 1916 reported that at the Church of England … ‘the Church was appropriately draped for the occasion and an enlarged photograph of the deceased soldier was placed on the font’.

Private Saunders has his name recorded on the Tingha Cenotaph and Honor Roll.