CATANI, Enrico Ferdinando
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 April 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 21st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Prahran, Victoria, Australia, 19 January 1891 |
| Home Town: | Kyneton, Macedon Ranges, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Melbourne C of E Grammar School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Grazier |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 29 July 1916, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
Serre Road Cemetery No.2 Beaumont Hamel, France Plot XXV, Row G, Grave 6 (Remains discovered 1930) |
| Memorials: | Baynton District Great War Honor Board, Baynton District Honor Board WW1, Kyabram & District R.S.S. & A.I.L.A. Honour Roll, Kyabram War Memorial, Kyneton Honour Roll, Kyneton War Memorial, Melbourne Grammar School WW1 Fallen Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 21st Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: | Involvement 24th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 26 Aug 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 21st Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Enrico Ferdinando Catani's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Enrico Catani was a grazier or “squatter” from the Pastoria East area near Kyneton, Victoria. His parents were Carlo and Catherine Catani, of St. Kilda, Victoria. Carlo, the father, was of Italian origin and a well-known civil engineer, who oversaw many projects for the Victorian government. Enrico was educated at the Melbourne Grammar School from 1905 to 1909. He was a good athlete and member of the school football team in 1909. He was also a member of the school cadet corps. On leaving school he went to Dookie Agricultural College where he gained his diploma in 1912.
Known as Eric, he was on the troop transport the “Southland” when it was torpedoed and sunk on its way to Gallipoli. Catania served at Gallipoli from late August 1915. On the 29 July 1916, at Pozieres, he was a leading a party of men to the front line when he was reported to have been hit by a shell and killed. Several of the men who gave evidence in his Red Cross file stated he was a much liked and popular officer.
Enrico was listed as missing, and his father passed away during 1918. His remains were discovered by the War Graves teams in January 1930 about 200 yards north of the Gilbralter pill box at Pozieres. He was identified by the presence of his identity disc, a cigarette case, a one-pound gold sovereign, a protractor marked “Lieut. Catani” and a Lieutenant’s badge of rank.
His sister Enid was notified of the discovery during 1932 and was eventually sent the recovered items. She noted in her correspondence with Base Records that her only surviving elder brother, Ettore Catani, had never recovered from the shock of his brother’s death and was under the care of the “Master-in-Equity”.
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