COLLINS, Joseph William
| Service Number: | 3044 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 25th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Pittsworth, Toowoomba, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 5 August 1916, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Serre Road Cemetery No.2 Beaumont Hamel, France Serre Road Cemetery No 2, Beaumont Hamel, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Pittsworth Great War Honoured Dead |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 3044, 25th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Itonus embarkation_ship_number: A50 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 3044, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Itonus, Brisbane |
The Herbert Pardey Collection of Glass Plate Negatives 1907-1917
Mystery Solved - Photograph Identified.
These two photographs have been identified as Joseph William Collins, together with his wife Clementina Harriet (nee Neale) and their four children Lillian (7), Vincent (5), Edna (3) and Enid (1). Sadly, Joseph did not return from the war.
Joseph William Collins was born in Toowoomba on 28 May 1874. His parents were Thomas James Collins (1835-1919) and Sarah Desert (1834-1925). Joseph married Clementina Harriet Neale in St. Andrew’s Church in Pittsworth on 12 June 1907. They had four children – Lillian, Vincent, Edna and Enid
With the outbreak of WW1, Jospeh, a bootmaker by trade, enlisted in Toowoomba on 19 August 1915. He was given the Service No. 3044 and assigned to the 25th Infantry Battalion as a Private. His battalion embarked from Brisbane aboard the ship HMAT Itonus on 30 December 1915.
On the 5 August 1916 while serving at the Pozieres, he was reported as Missing in Action during a charge at the front, believed killed. The following day his body was recovered. Joseph was found to have been Killed in Action instantly by a shell and was subsequently buried. The details of his burial were however lost, and it wasn’t until February 1929, 12 years later, that Joseph’s remains were recovered and reinterred in the Serre Road Cemetery near Beaumont Hamel in France. Joseph was 42 years of age.
(Ref: 395 - 33532-0001-0328 & 33532-0001-0107)
Submitted 8 September 2024 by Carol Berry
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