IDESON, Maurice
| Service Number: | 3858 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 February 1916, Place of enlistment - Perth, Western Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Ilkley, Yorkshire England, 1 February 1890 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | National School Ilkley, Yorkshire England |
| Occupation: | Steward |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 3 September 1916, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France, Serre Road Cemetery No 1, Beaumont Hamel, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France), Western Australia State War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3858, Place of enlistment - Perth, Western Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Feb 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3858, Embarked on HMAT 'A28' Miltiades from Fremantle on 12th February 1916, disembarking Egypt. | |
| 2 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
| 5 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3858, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Embarked on HMT Ivernia from Alexandria, Egypt on 5th June 1916, disembarking at Marseilles, France on 12th June 1916 to join British Expeditionary Force. | |
| 3 Sep 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3858, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3858 awm_unit: 51 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-09-03 |
Help us honour Maurice Ideson's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Daryl Jones
PRIVATE 3858 MAURICE IDESON, 51ST BATTALION AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY FORCE. KILLED IN ACTION 3RD SEPTEMBER 1916, AGED 27.
Joseph Henry Ideson and his wife Mary of Westwood Farm on Parish Ghyll Drive brought up two sons who would both die in the First World War. Their first son, Maurice, had left Ilkley before the war and settled in Perth, Western Australia. Employed as a ships steward, he married a local girl in 1914 and lived at 182 Lake Street, in the north of the city.
On 23th November 1915, Maurice enlisted in the Australian Infantry Force and was posted to the 28th Battalion. Three months later he boarded the HMAT Miltiades and sat sail for Europe. Landing in Marseilles he was assigned to the newly formed 51st Battalion which arrived in the Somme sector in June 1916.
On 3rd September 1916 the 51st took part in an attack against a German stronghold known at Moquet Farm near to Thiepval. Initially successful the Australians were subject to a concerted German counter attack which forced them back to the British front line. Private Maurice Iveson was one of many Australians who fell during the battle.
It would appear that Maurice's body was recovered and buried in a battlefield grave and in 1917, his widow, Ethel, arrived in Britain determined to find photographic evidence of her husband’s final resting place. She visited the Australian Army HQ in London and wrote numerous letters but, unfortunately, no photograph was forthcoming. Sadly, the truth was that Maurice's grave had probably been lost in subsequent fighting.
Today, Private Maurice Ideson is commemorated on the Australian Memorial to the Missing at Villers Bretonneaux and remembered with pride on the war memorial at St Margaret’s and on our town memorial on The Grove.
Source : Ilkley in the First World War - http://ilkleyremembers.blogspot.com/2019/01/private-3858-maurice-ideson-51st.html
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