KERR, Joseph Chester
| Service Number: | 900 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 March 1915, at Shepparton, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 24th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sale, Victoria, September 1896 |
| Home Town: | Shepparton, Greater Shepparton, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Mouquet Farm, France, 26 August 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Mooroopna Shepparton News Calendar & Pictorial Honour Roll of Fallen Heroes, Shepparton & District War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 900, at Shepparton, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: | Involvement Private, 900, 24th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked Private, 900, 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Melbourne | |
| 30 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 900, 24th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, proceeded to join Mediterranean Expeditionary Forces - Gallipoli | |
| 12 Dec 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 24th Infantry Battalion | |
| 14 Jul 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 24th Infantry Battalion | |
| 26 Aug 1916: | Involvement Sergeant, 900, 24th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 900 awm_unit: 24 Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1916-08-26 |
14th September 1916 - A letter home to Chester's parent from Private William Wilbert Little
I, Private 906 William Wilbert Little, 24th Battalion, D. Company, am very sorry to relate the death of your brave son, Sergeant J.C. Kerr who was killed in action the end of last month. I have known Chess ever since he joined the colors in March, 1915. I have been with him ever since he left Australia. He was always very well liked by the boys as a private and also as a N.C.O., which we all think and know he was the right man in the right place.
He was holding a very important position in the front firing line at the time he met his death. I was a stretcher-bearer, and the call came along the line, and I saw Chess; I did my best and got him on my stretcher. After attending to him I saw he was beyond all hope, and he asked for water. He said "I am only paying the price which others have paid and I know there is no chance for me. Never mind. Are my men still hanging on to that post?" I think personally, that he was the bravest soldier that was in the 24th Battalion, and the lads of the company are never finished talking about him as he was highly respected by all who knew him, and the next morning we buried him. And in time, if all goes well, I will be able to tell you more, as I could tell you more by word of mouth than letter. I must say that all the Privates, N.C.O.s, and Officers are very sorry at their's and your loss. We miss him more as each day goes by. I think this is all I can say just now.
Believe me to be your sincere friend.
Private 906 William Wilbert LITTLE, D. Company, 24th Battalion A.I.F. On active service in France.
Submitted by Julianne T Ryan. 18/02/2017. Lest we forget.
Submitted 18 February 2017 by Julianne Ryan
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
OUR HEROES.
SERGT. J. C. KERR KILLED.
On Thursday the Rev. Geo. Paul conveyed to Mr and Mrs S. Kerr, of Kialla West, the sad intelligence (received from the Defence authorities), that their fourth son, Sergeant Joseph Chester Kerr, was killed in battle on August 25th in Northern France. The deceased soldier was a very fine stamp of a young Australian. Employed on his father's farm, he enlisted in March 1915, and after being five weeks in training at Melbourne, left for the front. He was promoted to lance-corporal while in Egypt; to corporal at Gallipoli, where he was 18 weeks; and to sergeant in France. He was only 20 years of age. In the last letter received from him, he stated that he had just come out of action without a scratch, though a captain had been killed on one side of him and a corporal on the other. At the time of writing he was resting in camp for 10 days, and also doing bayonet drill ; and it is surmised that he must have been killed shortly after returning to the firing line.
An elder son of Mr and Mrs Kerr's, Trooper S. J. Kerr, of the Light Horse, is in Egypt; while a third son who had enlisted became ill at Broadmeadows and had to be discharged.
Mr. and Mrs. S. Kerr, "Arcadia homestead," were informed last week that their fourth son, Sergeant Joseph Chester Kerr, aged 20 years, had been killed in action in France. The bereaved parents were in formed through the usual source, but owing to the floods, delivery of the message was detained. The condolences of King and Queen and Commonwealth were offered. Sgt. Kerr enlisted about 12 months ago, and after five weeks' camp went to Egypt, where he received promotion as Lance-Corporal. He went to Gallipoli, where, he served for 18 weeks and was appointed a corporal. He went to France in March last, where he was advanced another step. He was killed in action on August 25. His last letter home was dated August 20. He was then in a rest camp for ten days, and had spent eight days in a bayonet school. He had been through engagements and had come out without a scratch. He reckoned that a man who got wounded not too badly, was lucky to get out of it.
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