VON DITTMER, Herbert John
| Service Number: | 6594 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Macclesfield, South Australia, 25 November 1892 |
| Home Town: | Goolwa, Alexandrina, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Goolwa Public School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Bullecourt, France, 6 May 1917, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Glenelg Tribute Plaque, Goolwa Soldiers Memorial Gardens WW1 Memorial, Goolwa War Memorial, Macclesfield ANZAC Memorial Gardens, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Oct 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 6594, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Melbourne embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Oct 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 6594, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Melbourne, Adelaide | |
| 5 May 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, 6594, 10th Infantry Battalion, Bullecourt (Second) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College
Herbert John Von-Dittmer was born in Macclesfield, South Australia on November 25 1893.
Before the war, Bert lived on a farm near Goolwa with his mother and siblings, and he worked as both a farmer and butcher. Showing courage, he enlisted on 18 January 1916. During the war, he served in the 9th Light Horse from January 24 to July 19. Showing endurance, he was sick in Hospital for several months, four to be precise (June 30 to September 14), with the later part of this time being at the hospital on Torrens Island near Port Adelaide.
On his recovery, he was transferred to the 10th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), which was a South Australian based infantry battalion. On the 21st of October he embarked at Melbourne on HM Troopship ‘Port Melbourne’ and disembarked at HMNB Devonport near Plymouth in the United Kingdom on the 28th of December. They marched in from Australia on the 29th of December. On the 5th of April, the 10th battalion proceeded overseas to Folkestone, France.
In France on the 6th of May 1917, Herbert (Bert) John Von-Dittmer was killed in action in the early days of the second battle of Bullecourt (3 May to 20 May) in France which killed or injured 7,000 Australian soldiers. There are no details available about how he died but he must have shown considerable courage. They never found his body, so he may have been killed as part of an artillery barrage or similar with his death possibly reported by another soldier who saw it occur.
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