PERKINS, Colin Ernest
| Service Number: | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 January 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 59th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Prahran, Victoria, Australia, 1892 |
| Home Town: | St Kilda, Port Phillip, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Hawksburn State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Packer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 19 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2014, Depot Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2014, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Apr 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2014, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne | |
| 19 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2014, 59th Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2014 awm_unit: 59th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-07-19 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
His brother 2421 Private Eric Perkins 59th Battalion was killed in action the same day 19 July, 1916. Age 25.
Colin Ernest Perkins was born in 1892 in East Melbourne to Alfred Joseph Perkins and Alice Ethel Swifte. His family, however, were not inclined to stay in one place long: the child before him was born in Prahran and the one after in Kew. The child before him was Eric and the two were very close. In 1910 when the family was in Hawthorn they had become a pair of tearaways and were in the Richmond Court on a variety of charges: the most serious being arson. They had set fire to a residence in Swan Street, ‘just for fun’ they said later. As well they had stolen 4s 7d worth of pennies from the money-in-the-slot gas meter inside the house. On another occasion they had broken into a house and smashed several mirrors.
Colin worked as an assistant at a chemical works. He embarked with 5th reinforcements to the 7th Battalion on 17 April 1915, joined the 7th Battalion on Gallipoli on 5 August 1915, and arrived back in Alexandria unscathed in early January 1916. He was transferred to the 59th Bn at Serapeum on the 24 February 1916, and was killed at Fromelles with B Company at the age of 23 . He is remembered at VC Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles
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