The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Salvation Army Minister, Red Shield War Representative and unofficial Padre, Major Arthur William 'Mac' McIlveen (left) writing letters with an unidentified soldier, probably of the 2/9th Battalion. Major McIlveen sits on the side of a dugout while the unidentified soldier sits inside, his helmet and rifle lay at his side. A fort can be seen in the far distance. McIlveen trained as a Salvation Army officer in Melbourne and tried to enlist as a Padre during the First World War but the Salvation Army refused to send him as his superiors considered him ‘too reckless’. Instead McIlveen enlisted as a private in the AIF on 9 July 1918 but it proved an anti-climax as he was still aboard the transport vessel SS Wyreema when the armistice was signed and he was sent home. During the Second World War, aged 54, he served as a Salvation Army Representative and an unofficial Padre attached to the 2/9th Battalion. At Tobruk, he was known for his fearlessness, taking news and any comforts he could find out to soldiers in the field. On his return from overseas service he served as a Salvation Army Prison Officer in NSW and he was made a Brigadier in 1938. He was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) on 10 June 1961, in 1967 he was admitted to the Order of the Founder, the Salvation Army's highest award, and was knighted for his services to ex-servicemen on 1 January 1970. Sir Arthur William McIlveen died on 1 May 1979 at the Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, and was buried in Woronora cemetery with full military honours.
Informal portrait of Salvation Army Minister, Red Shield War Representative and unofficial Padre, Major Arthur 'Mac' McIlveen. McIlveen trained as a Salvation Army officer in Melbourne and tried to en
Informal portrait of Salvation Army Minister, Red Shield War Representative and unofficial Padre, Major Arthur William 'Mac' McIlveen, outside his quarters in Tobruk. McIlveen trained as a Salvation A
Informal portrait of Salvation Army Minister, Red Shield War Representative and unofficial Padre, Major Arthur William 'Mac' McIlveen. Major McIlveen stands in the doorway of the Red Shield 'Hop In' a
Informal portrait of QX4260 Lieutenant John Lyddy, 2/9th Battalion and Salvation Army Minister, Red Shield War Representative and unofficial Padre, Major Arthur William 'Mac' McIlveen resting on the f
Informal portrait of Salvation Army Minister, Red Shield War Representative and unofficial Padre, Major Arthur William 'Mac' McIlveen (right) and an unidentified soldier, probably of the 2/9th Battali
Group portrait of soldiers and Salvation Army representatives outside a large tent that prominently displays a Salvation Army Red Shield sign and the familiar comforts sign depicting a kangaroo that r
