PERKINS, Arthur George
| Service Number: | 2719 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 April 1916, Petersberg, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 50th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Petersberg, South Australia , 2 June 1890 |
| Home Town: | Ucolta, Peterborough, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Ucolta School , South Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Battle Of Messines, Wameton, Belgium , 8 June 1917, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Sunnybrae School and District Roll of Honour, Ucolta Memorial Hall (Remains) |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Petersberg, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Oct 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2719, 50th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Melbourne embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Oct 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2719, 50th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Melbourne, Adelaide |
Help us honour Arthur George Perkins's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Lucy Nicholls
Arthur George Perkins was born in June, 1890 in Peterborough, South Australia. He lived on a farm opposite Ucolta, which is approximately fourteen kilometres from Peterborough and went to Ucolta School. His next to kin was his father, Robert Perkins and his mother was Mary-Anne Perkins. They had nine children altogether, eight girls and one boy and Arthur was the youngest child. He was engaged to Madge McMurtrie. He enlisted to the A.I.F in Petersburg, South Australia that is known as Peterborough today. The reason it changed to Peterborough is that Petersburg is a German name and the war against Germany. Other towns that had German names were changed due to war.
The Perkins family were farmers and his Dad, Robert invented the Perkins bag lifter. Robert made 17000 bag lifters to sell to the farm owners. Most farms over South Australia had one of the Perkins bag lifter. Robert would sell them to the farmer at a low cost, as he wanted to help the farmer out that were suffering from hardship. Robert was a very clever man he would invent different sorts of farming equipment to help remove the burden of the hard work his family had to suffer.
Arthur enlisted in World War One on the first of April 1916; he was twenty six when he went to war. He was a member of the 17th Light Horse Squadron in the mid north of South Australia; he then was taken to sixth reinforcement of the 50th Battalion. Later the A.I.F operations moved to Belgium where the battalion was involved in the Battle of Messines. He died in action in the trenches on the 6th of June, 1917 at the age of twenty seven.
Arthur’s tragic death left Robert and Mary Ann in shock with the loss of their only son, and the eight sisters without a brother. The Perkins family had fostered a boy from Melbourne in 1906, named Herbert George Newton, so once Arthur had died at war Herbert had to help Robert run the farm and help make all the family inventions, as he was getting sick and unhealthy.
Biography contributed by Dean HARRIS
Arthur George PERKINS was the youngest child and only son of 9 children to Robert and Mary-Anne PERKINS nee BARBER. He was engaged to Miss Madge McMurtrie. He was an active member of the 17th. Light Horse Squadron in mid-north S.A. prior to enlistment. He was attached to the 6th. reinforcements of the 50th. Batallion.
They lived on their family farm opposite Ucolta which is approx. 14k from Petersburg now Peterborough, SA.
His name is memorialised on a plaque near the former Community Hall at Ucolta along with other local men who also died in WW1.
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