LONGDEN, Cedric Reginald (1891-1938)Cedric Longden was born on 6 May 1891, the son of Dr Francis ('Frank') Reginald Longden and Josephine Mary nee Robertson of Buninyong.
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Cedric Longden (Football 1908).
He was enrolled at Geelong College as a boarder on 23 October 1900 and left in 1908. His World War I attestation papers stated that he had spent 8 years in the Geelong College Cadets. He was a member of both the 1st Football XVIII and the 1st Cricket XI in 1908, the first year of College competition in the Australian Public Schools (APS) association.
During World War I, he enlisted in the AIF and embarked with the 21st Battalion, on
HMAT A38 Ulysses on 10 May 1915 for Egypt, and then Gallipoli. The
Ballarat Courier newspaper described his imminent departure:
'Lt Cedric Reginald Longden, son of Dr F R Longden has been appointed to the 24th Battalion, and sails shortly for the front. On account of leave being stopped Lt Longden is unable to visit his home. His friends were disappointed that they could not personally say good-bye, but forwarded a wristlet watch as a token of their appreciation and their earnest desire for a safe return. His father is visiting the camp to bid him farewell, and convey to him the goodwill and wishes of the citizens.'
At Gallipoli he served as a Lieutenant throughout the campaign there. After the Evacuation from the Peninsula he went with his battalion to France, where he was seriously wounded at Pozieres in July 1916, requiring six months’ leave. He was admitted to the Red Cross Hospital at Rouen on 2 September 1916 with serious gunshot wounds to the chest.
Cedric Longden was invalided home from England on 13 February 1917 and together with another returned serviceman received a civic reception in Buninyong.
He reported himself as a farmer on his attestation record and appears to have returned to that occupation after the war. The electoral rolls report him as as a farmer at Elaine, Victoria in 1917 and from 1919 to 1926 possibly the same Cedric, a farmer at Cunningham in New South Wales. In 1931, 1936 and 1937 he is listed in the electoral rolls at Buninyong with the occupation of rubber planter. This suggests that he may have also farmed in South-east Asia. Cedric does appear as a passenger on the ship
Palermo from Singapore to Fremantle on 20 April 1927 and his wife, Marjorie Carpenter (c1898-1921) who he married in 1918 (No 5786) in Victoria is reported to haved died at Kuala Lumpur on 25 February 1921.
Little further is known about Cedric though h was known to have been involved in two automobile crashes. One, reported by the
Argus newspaper may have been nearly fatal as he was apprently thrown from his car: -
'Serious head injuries were suffered by Mr Cedric Longden, son of Dr F R Longden of Buninyong when the motor car which he was driving in Grant street yesterday afternoon collided with a tram. The tramcar was being driven by Mr Stanley Lawrence. Mr Longden suffered from head injuries abrasions and shock. Two small boys in the tram Alan and Malcolm Mciver of Cobden street, received a shaking but were unhurt. The tram was derailed and partly swung round. The motorman was cut on the face and hands by broken glass.' He died at Buningyong on 15 April 1938.
His father,
Frank Reginald Longden (1862-1938), and brother,
Norman Anderson Longden (1895-1945), were also educated at Geelong College.
Sources: Ballarat Courier 7 May 1915 p6; Ballarat Star 1 Mar 1921 p4; Geelong Collegians at the Great War compiled by James Affleck. p 236 (citing Pegasus; National Archives).