Albert GreenmanPrint Page

The headstone at the gravesite commemorates firefighter Albert Greenman (1893 - 1924), who died in the City of Singapore fire in 1924. 

Albert Greenman was buried in an unmarked grave and the grave was refurbished and a memorial plaque erected and dedicated on the 4th May 1921. 

The City of Singapore was loaded with a shipment of cars and tractors from America and a large quantity of flammable cargo, including kerosene, lubricating oil and 38,000 cases of petrol.

On April 26, 1924, one of the ship`s officers saw flames coming from a ventilator. The local fire brigade was ill-equipped to deal with such a disaster, and fire crews from all over Adelaide moved in during the night to assist. 

The Chief Officer at the Head Fire Station in Adelaide called all men to parade, and told them that he wanted volunteers to attend the fire.  Not one fireman refused to go to the fire.  Driver Albert Greenman was one of those who went to the fire.

The hold was flooded and the fire apparently contained. Shortly afterwards an explosion threw some of those on the boat onto the wharf and others escaped by climbing through portholes ahead of the flames. Greenman was found lying on the deck with dreadful head injuries and was dead on admission to Port Adelaide hospital. Eleven firemen and two of the ship`s personnel were taken to the hospital injured. George Anderson and Jim Hickey also disappeared.

South Australia’s fire services will today mark a very special International Firefighters Day, honouring a fallen firefighter who lay in an unmarked grave for nearly a century. Albert Greenman was one of three SA Fire Brigade firefighters who died battling the catastrophic City of Singapore ship fire at Port Adelaide on 26 April 1924. More than 90 years on, former Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) firefighter Dr David Sweet discovered that Albert lay in an unmarked grave at West Terrace Cemetery. “As a former firefighter, it troubled me that Albert had made the ultimate sacrifice, but through grief, further tragedy and the passage of time, his grave was left barren.

“I reached out to MFS connections, which led to Firefighter Albert Greenman’s grave being refurbished with a proper headstone, unveiled through a Dedication Memorial Service on International Firefighters Day in 2021. Fittingly, this will mean Albert and his sacrifice will be remembered for generations to come,” Dr Sweet said. Research uncovered that tragically, Firefighter Albert Greenman never met his one and only child, an infant son named Albert who was born and died weeks after Albert Snr perished. Father and son are buried together, alongside Albert’s mother-in-law Caroline Martorana.
Excerpt from Media Release, South Australian Government, 4 May 2021

Location

Address:	161 West Terrace, West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, 5000
State:	SA
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -34.934173 Long: 138.584279 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

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Details

Monument Type:	Grave
Monument Theme:	People
Sub-Theme:	Tragedy

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:	Tuesday 4th May, 2021

Source: MA