Peter James LATHAM

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LATHAM, Peter James

Service Number:	2958
Enlisted:	14 July 1915
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	60th Infantry Battalion
Born:	Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia, 2 August 1893
Home Town:	Fitzroy, Yarra, Victoria
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Bootmaker
Died:	Killed in Action, France, 19 July 1916, aged 22 years
Cemetery:	Ration Farm Military Cemetery, la Chapelle-D'Armentieres Plot VI. Row H. Grave 42
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour

World War 1 Service

14 Jul 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2958, Depot Battalion
10 Sep 1915:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2958, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of Victoria embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: ''
10 Sep 1915:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2958, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Star of Victoria, Melbourne
19 Jul 1916:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2958, 60th Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2958 awm_unit: 60th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-07-19

More details about Peter

Peter James Latham SN 2958 was born August 8, 1893 and died aged 22 at the Battle of Fromelles on 19/7/1916. He was an ammunitions carrier with the AIF, and followed the soldiers who went over the hill before him on 19/7/16. He died in No Man's Land and most likely never had a chance to fire a shot or defend himself. He enlisted in 13/7/15, and lasted four days short of one year in the service.

Peter was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne, to Mary (Molloy) (1863-1931) and Frederick George Latham (1855-22/2/1908, died at sea, merchant seaman). They had immigrated to Australia from Tipperary, Ireland, and Hounslow England, respectively, in the late 1800s. Peter was a bootmaker by trade, and had two sisters and three brothers - Harriet Bridget, Frederick George, John, Mary and James (Jim) Patrick.

If he was anything like his two brothers who joined up in WW1 too, or his three nephews who joined up for WW2, and anything like my Mum, his niece, he would have been a good-looking, charming, gregarious young man, who enjoyed a good laugh, was generous to a fault, and very good to his parents and siblings.

Although his body is in France, his dead man's penny forms part of the headstone of his mother's grave in Melbourne Cemetery. The Lathams were never rich, but we think the payout from the military for Peter's death was kept by his mother to ensure that when she died, a gravestone was created to include him too. I'll upload some photos soon.

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