Alfred Kinsman McBain was born in Ballarat and was a Clerk by trade when he enlisted in the 39th Battalion, Headquarters as an Armourer Staff Sergeant on 2 August 1916 at the age of 21. His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A11 Ascanius on 27 May 1916. In January 1917 he passed examinations on the repair and maintenance of rifles and bayonets and in July 1917 he was transferred to a command role at the School of Armoury at Dulwich. He rejoined his 39th Battalion in France in March 1918 and served there to within a couple of days of the Armistice, in fact on the day the Armistice was signed he was being admitted to the Military Hospital at Devonport, UK, suffering from influenza. He returned home on the Demosthenes, disembarking at Melbourne on March 2nd 1919.
Tree No. 1566