HIRST, Percy Frederick
| Service Number: | 58 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 1st Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia, 27 August 1893 |
| Home Town: | Annandale, Leichhardt, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Cooks Hill Superior Public School, Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Occupation: | Mechanical Engineer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Pozieres, France, 25 July 1916, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
Pozières British Cemetery Plot III, Row H, Grave No. 15 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 58, 1st Field Company Engineers | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct 1914: | Involvement Sapper, 58, 1st Field Company Engineers, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Oct 1914: | Embarked Sapper, 58, 1st Field Company Engineers, HMAT Afric, Sydney | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 58, 1st Field Company Engineers, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 10 Aug 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1st Field Company Engineers | |
| 8 Sep 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Corporal, 1st Field Company Engineers | |
| 1 Mar 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 1st Field Company Engineers | |
| 25 Jul 1916: | Involvement Corporal, 58, 1st Field Company Engineers, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 58 awm_unit: 1st Field Company, Australian Engineers awm_rank: Corporal awm_died_date: 1916-07-25 | |
| 27 Oct 1916: | Honoured Military Medal, Battle for Pozières , For great courage and coolness under heavy shell fire in undertaking very responsible work, continuously in the trenches, since arriving in France. |
Help us honour Percy Frederick Hirst's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Gary Mitchell, Sandgate Cemetery
An Original Anzac memorialised at Sandgate Cemetery.
On the 25th July 1916, Corporal Percy (also Patrick) Frederick Hirst (M.M.), 1st Field Company, Australian Engineers (Reg No-58), mechanical engineer (Mort's Dock and Engineering Company Limited, Balmain, N.S.W.), from the Y.M.C.A., Sydney, New South Wales, was Killed in Action at the Battle of Pozieres, age 24. Cause of death not stated.
Sulphide Corporation Ltd - 3 years, 9 months.
Mort's Dock and Engineering Company Limited - 2 years, 3 months.
3rd Australian Garrison Artillery - 2 years.
No Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing File.
Born at Bundaberg, Queensland on the 27th August 1893 to James (died 6.4.1930, Woollahra, N.S.W., age 74, remarried 1914, Sydney, N.S.W. to Fanny M Hirst nee Green) of 116 Old South Head Road, Vaucluse, N.S.W., and Diana Harriet Hirst nee Druce (died 29.10.1905, Newcastle, N.S.W., age 44) of "The Boltons", Church Street, Newcastle, New South Wales and "Renown", Russell Avenue, Wahroonga, N.S.W. and "Glenferrie", Kirribilli Point, North Sydney, N.S.W., Percy enlisted on the 19th August 1914 at Sydney, N.S.W.
Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on board Transport A19 Afric on the 18th October 1914.
Awarded Military Medal 7.11.1916.
'Landed at Anzac on the 25th April 1915 and has been with his unit since that date. He had charge of very responsible work and displayed great courage and coolness under heavy shellfire on several occasions. He has been working in the trenches continually since this unit has been in France and has carried out his duties in a most satisfactory and efficient manner.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 62.
Date: 19th April 1917.
Percy is resting at Pozieres British Cemetery, Ovillers-La Boisselle, France. Plot III Row H Grave 15.
Many thanks to Thierry Grier for the cemetery and headstone photos.
Place of Association – Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Mr. Hirst’s name has been inscribed on The Capt. Clarence Smith Jeffries (V.C.) and Pte. William Matthew Currey (V.C.) Memorial Wall. Name not inscribed on the Cooks Hill Superior Public School Roll of Honour or the 3rd Australian Garrison Artillery Roll of Honour or the Sulphide Corporation Pty Ltd Cockle Creek Works Roll of Honour or any other known War Memorial or Roll of Honour. Name probably inscribed on the Newcastle Technical College Roll of Honour, whereabouts unknown.
I have placed poppies at the memorialised gravesite of Mrs. Hirst in remembrance of the service and supreme sacrifice of her son Percy for God, King & Country. METHODIST 1 (WESLEYAN) A NE. 67.
Younger brother Arthur Havelock (born Bundaberg, Queensland, 13.7.1894, clerk from 'Bay View', 364 Annandale Street, Annandale, New South Wales, enlisted 12.2.1915, 12th Australian Light Horse Regiment, Reg No-326, RTA ?, Captain, 54th Battalion, also served Indian Army and 2nd A.I.F., enlisted 8.10.1940, Headquarters, 2nd Division, N30047, discharged 18.4.1942, died 4.1.1968, Yamba, N.S.W., age 73, not officially commemorated.
Contact with descendants would be greatly appreciated.
For more detail, see “Forever Remembered “
http://www.commemoratingwarheroes.com/cemetery-main-search/
Lest We Forget.
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