McCOLL, Duncan Morrison

McCOLL, Duncan Morrison – A Southern Downs Veteran

CONFLICT : WWI
SERVICE NO : 1564
RANK : Temporary Corporal
UNIT : 11th Light Horse Regiment
ENLISTMENT DATE : 12/08/1915
AGE : 21
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT : Toowoomba, Queensland
PLACE OF BIRTH : Geelong, Victoria
RELIGION : Presbyterian
OCCUPATION : Farmer
DATE OF DEATH : 3/09/1967
PLACE OF BURIAL : Townsville, Queensland

MEMORIALS : Yelarbon War Memorial, Yelarbon Roll of Honour, Goondiwindi War Memorial, Yeulba War Memorial

View Veteran’s Service File : McCOLL, Duncan Morrison

NOTES :  Like so many other local young Australian men, twenty-one-year-old Yelarbon farmer, Duncan McColl answered the call to enlist for overseas service. Older brother Robert Malcolm McColl 2197, enlisted and was captured by the Turkish army and interned as a Prisoner of War.

November 1916 saw Duncan struck down with malaria, and he was admitted to the 14th Australian General Hospital in Abbassia, which is situated in Cairo, Egypt. Classified as medically unfit, Duncan was returned to Australia via HT Kildonian Castle where he was discharged on 15 May 1919.

Mary Ellen Sophia White and Duncan were married on 19 May 1926. For a time, the couple lived in Roma, Southport and finally in Townsville. It is believed the couple had four children, one son and three daughters.

Copyright 2026 Deborah C Wheeler and Duncan McLean, Southern Downs Military History

Read about Southern Downs Military History here.