MULHALL, Ernest Ambrose
| Service Number: | 3163 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 October 1916, Rutherford, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 56th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia, 7 June 1895 |
| Home Town: | Bowraville, Nambucca Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Shop assistant |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 26 September 1917, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Dubbo Memorial Drive & Rose Garden, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Oct 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3163, Rutherford, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Nov 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3163, 56th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Suevic embarkation_ship_number: A29 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Nov 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3163, 56th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suevic, Sydney | |
| 26 Sep 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3163, 56th Infantry Battalion, Polygon Wood |
Help us honour Ernest Ambrose Mulhall's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Sue Slater
Ernie, as he was known in our family, was the eldest of 8 children of James & Elizabeth Mary Mulhall (nee McCudden), my Great Uncle & Aunt. About 1910 his parents & then 4 siblings moved from the Central West of NSW to the Far North Coast of NSW settling into farm life at Bowraville. It was here that Ernie started work at Tuck's Shop as an assistant.
On Ernie's records there is a form dated 28 SEP 1916 filled in at Bowraville but his Enlistment Papers are dated 13 OCT 1916 & declared at Rutherford, NSW, this is where he did his training with the 36th Trng Battalion before being allotted to the 56th Battalion, 14th Bridage, 5th Division on 2 NOV 1916, his Medical History was completed on 6 OCT 1916 at Rutherford & it appears that his commencement date is 13 OCT 1916, also at Rutherford.
Ernie sailed out of Sydney onboard HMAT "Suevic" nine days later & then 2 weeks after was admitted to the Ship's Hospital suffering from measles, after 11 days he was released from hospital. Once in England he did some more training with 14th Trng Bn & then transported to Marseilles & then onto Northern France in June, 1917.
On 16 SEP 1917 Ernie was detached for duty to 1st Australian Tunnelling Coy & rejoined his unit on 23 SEP 1917, three days later he was killed in action.
His parents were advised that he had died in France, their graves in Bowraville Cemetery have a memorial to him. I believe after researching his battalion's movements that he may have died in Polygon Wood during the 3rd Battle of Ypres in Belgium.
I can not tell you any personal stories of Ernie as I did not know him or his parents as they had passed away before I was born, I did know his 2 sisters but they never talked about him in my presence but as a child I remember my Nan telling me that Jim spoke about "his boy" often.
Ernie has no known grave & there are no Red Cross reports of his injuries/death, but it is possible that he may have been interred in Buttes Military Cemetery after Armistice Day, when this cemetery was created, as it thought that he died in Polygon Wood, 2103 men were buried here with only 428 identified, all are thought to have died in 1917
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