55863
JEFFERY, Cecil Thomas James
| Service Number: | 5386 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Divisional Train |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 24 February 1891 |
| Home Town: | Unley, Unley, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Musician |
| Memorials: | Black Forest Parkside West Methodist Church and School Roll of Honor WW1, Unley Town Hall WW1 Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5386, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 5386, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 5386, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Adelaide | |
| 12 Dec 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 5386, 1st Divisional Train, 4th MD |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
Courtesy of Philippe Clerbout
Pte Cecil Thomas James Jeffery
In the regional press.
Jim, Australian musician at the front, in Hautmont.
Armande, 11 at the time, remembered an "English soldier who came from beyond the seas". "This soldier had lodged, at the end of 1918 - beginning of 1919, with my great-grandparents, Armand and Léonie Houze, in Hautmont, opposite the Dembiermont factory", details Gilbert, Armande's grandson. “He sent them his portrait a few months after his stay with a few words and his signature on the back of the card, Jim Jeffery. "
Gilbert investigates and discovers the soldier is "actually wearing an Australian uniform." That eight men bear the same name but “only one remained in Europe beyond November 30, 1918: Cecil Thomas James Jeffery, born February 24, 1891 in Adelaide. A musician in civilian life, he was incorporated into the 10th Battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment and embarked for Europe on April 11, 1916 ".
According to the history of the regiment, Gilbert learns that "Jim had to fight in the Somme, Flanders, Aisne before being transferred, in June 1918, to the first division of the train whose staff is then in Solre-le-Château. It has worked in particular to demine and restore the region's railways. Jim embarked on September 6, 1919 on the ship Euripides to return to Australia. Alive, when nearly 60,000 of his compatriots died in that war.
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