Alfred James Gardiner’s occupation and marital status on enlistment, was detailed as an Engine driver, who was single.
- Date of Birth – 1894 in Sydney.1NSW Birth Death and Marriages, https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/ Birth – 30085/1893. Parents James Gardiner and Catherine. Registered in Port Macquarie, New South Wales. Accessed 29 April 2024.
- Parents – James Gardiner and Catherine Wallis. Upon his enlistment the contact for his father was given as Mr J. Gardiner of 1 Chambers Street, Coburg, Victoria.
- Enlisted – 27 July 1915, Goulburn, New South Wales with his address given as Araluen, at the time of his enlistment. Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on board HMAT A55 Kyarra on 3 June 1916.2University of NSW AIF project https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=107190. Accessed 10 May 2024.
- Regimental Number – 57003National Archives of Australia. https://www.naa.gov.au/. NAA: B2455, Gardiner Alfred James, Item ID–4036807. Accessed 10 May 2024.
- Aged at embarkation – 224Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2068168. Accessed 10 May 2024.
- Military service – 4th Battalion, 18th Reinforcement, Rank – Private5Virtual War Memorial Australia, https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/70109. Accessed 10 May 2024. Alfred served on the Western Front and was awarded the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal.
- Returned to Australia on 20 April 1919.
- Died on 22 September 1961, Essendon, Victoria6Victoria Birth Death and Marriages, https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/ Death 17762/1961, Parents James and Jean Wallis. Accessed 28 April 2024.
- Buried at Fawkner, Merribek City, Victoria, Australia7Find a Grave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212202382/alfred-j-gardiner. Accessed 28 April 2024.
In September 1919, the Braidwood Review8Braidwood Review and District Advocate (NSW : 1914-1954), Tuesday 30 September 1919, p 5. reported ‘During the past few weeks three more of the Valley soldiers who saw the war brought to a successful conclusion arrived home, in the persons of Privates F. Shepherd, J. Gardiner, B. Mathison, the latter being accompanied by his wife, who, by the way, is an English bride.’
The Goulburn Evening Penny Post9Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881-1940), Tuesday 14 October 1919, p 4. reported in October 1919, ‘On Thursday evening last in the Araluen Town Hall, a hearty welcome home was tendered Privates Bert Mathison, A. J. Gardiner, and Sergeant J. Marr. Each soldier was presented with an inscribed medal from [the] Braidwood Welcome Home Committee, besides an illuminated certificate from the Tallaganda Shire Council’.
Alfred James was the son of James Gardiner (1851-1929) and Catherine Wallis (1861-1896). In 1920 in Braidwood, Alfred married Ethel May Gibbons (1898-1981) who was born in Araluen. They had seven children—Enid May (1920-2017), Robert James (1922-2005), Elsie (1923-2012), Lionel John (1925-1941), Reg (1927-), Valma (1929-1995) and James (1931-).
In September 1941, the Age10Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854-1954), Monday 1 September 1941, p 1. reported on the death on ‘August 31, 1941 (result of accident), [of] Lionel John, dearly beloved second son of James and Ethel Gardiner, of 55 Pascoe Crescent, Essendon, loving brother of Enid, Robert, Elsie, Reg, Valma and James, aged 16 years.’ The Argus11Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1957), Monday 1 September 1941, p 5. added ‘With a gunshot wound in the right arm and body, Jack Gardiner, 16, of Pascoe Crescent, Essendon, was admitted to Prince Henry’s Hospital on Saturday night … [and] died yesterday afternoon. He … was shooting rabbits with 2 other men on a friend’s farm at Wallan … a companion … caught the cartridge [and] the gun was accidentally discharged and Gardiner received the charge’.
The electoral rolls in 1925-26 show Alfred James Gardiner as an engine driver in Kew in Melbourne, living with Ethel and his sister Annie and father James, and later in the 1940-1950s as a motor driver, living in Essendon, Melbourne.