HAND, Ernie
| Other Name: | Cuckson, John Ernest - Birth Records |
|---|---|
| Service Number: | 1129 |
| Enlisted: | 4 February 1916, Kempsey |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 55th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Balmain, New South Wales, Australia, 30 August 1896 |
| Home Town: | Kempsey, Kempsey, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Blacksmith |
| Died: | Chronic Bronchitis, Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, 14 July 1970, aged 73 years |
| Cemetery: |
East Kempsey Cemetery, NSW |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1129, Kempsey | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 1129, 36th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Beltana embarkation_ship_number: A72 public_note: '' | |
| 13 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 1129, 36th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Beltana, Sydney | |
| 4 Oct 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 55th Infantry Battalion | |
| 4 Sep 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 1129, 55th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Ernie Hand was born John Ernest Cuckson in 1896 at Balmain, the seventh of eight children of William Cuckson and his wife, Margaret Guerin.
His father was fatally injured in a work accident in January 1899 when crushed by a log while discharging lumber from the schooner H.B. Bendicen in Johnson Bay, Sydney. Four years later, almost to the day, his mother passed away at the age of 38 leaving the eight children orphaned.
Aged between four and fifteen years the children were sent to various organistations and institutions around Sydney - not necessarily the same facilities and lost touch with each other.
Despite efforts of the older siblings, in particular his elder sister Kathleen (1887-1955), to reunite and settle the family in Victoria, the whereabouts of Ernie was lost.
Ernie was adopted in 1908 from the St Josephs Boys Home, Kincumber South, New South Wales by Henry Frederick Hand-Honholz, a coachbuilder and wheelwright, and his wife Agnes of Green Hill, Kempsey, New South Wales. He also adopted the surname 'Hand' and had no subsequent contact with his biological siblings.
Two of his elder brothers enlisted in 1915 for service in World War I - 3032 Private William Joseph Cuckson (1889-1916) who was killed at Fromelles, and 1850 Private Thomas Victor Cuckson (1893-1962).
Working for his adopted father as a blacksmith, Ernie enlisted in February 1916 at Kempsey as part of the North Coast Boomerangs' recruitment march. He was assigned to the 36th Battalion before being transferred, in the following October, to reinforce the 55th Battalion. He spent an extended period in hospital with bronchitis during the severe winter of 1916/17 and also suffered from nephritis but he saw out the war with the 55th Battalion.
After three and a half years on active service Ernie returned to Australia in HMAT Beltanna and arrived back in Kempsey on Wednesday, 23 July 1919. Ernie Hand never married and suffered ill health for much of his later life. He lived out his days in Kempsey, where he died in 1970.
Ernie was buried in an unmarked grave at East Kempsey Cemetery. Dogged investigations by Cuckson family members, in search of Ernie, ended in July 2013 when an Australian War Graves Headstone was erected on his grave.
References: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article174423520
https://fromelles.info/soldiers/3032-private-william-joseph-cuckson/
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