POWTER, Ernest Lachlan
| Service Number: | 4919 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 September 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 53rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Orange, New South Wales, Australia, 9 March 1900 |
| Home Town: | Petersham, Marrickville, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 2 November 1916, aged 16 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4919, 1st Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 4919, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of England embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 4919, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Star of England, Sydney | |
| 1 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, 4919, 53rd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4919 awm_unit: 53rd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-11-01 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Private Ernest Lachlan Powter (4919, 53rd Battalion) was born in Orange, NSW. He was working as a junior clerk when he enlisted in September 1915. Ernest died of wounds received in action near Flers on 1 November 1916 and is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. His father wrote that he was 16 years 8 months at the time of his death. Ernest’s brother Gunner Claude Jabez Powter was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Ernest is the youngest known recruit from Orange to enlist in WWI. A fellow soldier described Ernest as “just a slight slip of a boy, with rather a girlish face.”
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