NEILL, Eric Vansittart Ernest
Service Number: | Officer |
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Enlisted: | 23 April 1915, Melbourne, Victoria |
Last Rank: | Captain |
Last Unit: | 24th Infantry Battalion |
Born: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 June 1878 |
Home Town: | South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria |
Schooling: | Carlton Grammar School and Dookie Agricultural College then to Sandhurst Military College |
Occupation: | Journalist/Company Manager |
Died: | Lung disease, Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 26 September 1955, aged 77 years |
Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne Cremated - his ashes were scattered |
Memorials: |
Boer War Service
1 Jan 1900: | Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Second Lieutenant |
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World War 1 Service
23 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Captain, Melbourne, Victoria | |
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10 May 1915: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Captain, 24th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' |
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10 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Captain, 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Melbourne | |
30 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, Officer, 24th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
25 Jun 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Captain |
Help us honour Eric Vansittart Ernest Neill's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
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Father James John Vansittart Neill of Barnweill and Swindridgemuir, Ayr, Scotland and
Mother Alice Kate Bristow of Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia.
Eric's father - James Neill - was killed in a riding accident in 1880.
Little is known of his schooling and early years.
1901 Eric married Irene Louise Outtrim, but this marriage was short lived. Thereafter
he spent several years in the United States of America, returning to Australia
before WWI commenced.
Previous service:
1898 - Eric was Victorian commisioned as Lieutenant
after passing Sandhurst Entrance Exam - gazetted to 2nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment
- 16 months service in South Africa 1901, 1902 and 1903
- Staff work in Victoria, Australia - (Affairs Commission)
Next of Kin:
Mrs Laura Emmaline Slaughton, living at 53 Chapel Street, East St Kilda, Victoria
On enlisting Eric lived at 430 Punt Road, South Yarra, Victoria.
Described on enlisting as 37 years 11 months old; single;5' 11" tall; 158 lbs;
Church of England.
23/4/1915 Enlisted in Melbourne, Victoria
10/5/1915 Embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A14 Euripides
as a Captain with the 6th Infantry Brigade, 24th Infantry Battalion, A Company
13/9/1915 admitted sick to hospital ship HS Nevaska - dysentry
13/9/1915 admitted to No.1 Casualty Clearing Station, Anzac
13/9/1915 admitted to No.1 Australian Stationary Hospital, Lemnos
14/9/1915 transferred to HS Nevaska, for travel to Alexandria
19/9/1915 admitted to 15th General Hospital in Alexandria, ex HS Nevaska
14/10/1915 transferred to Cairo from Alexandria
14/10/1915 admitted 1st Australian General Hospital, Heliopolos, Greece
3/4/1916 seconded from 2nd Infantry Training Battalion to Temporary Command the
Anzac Provost Corp, Abbassia
3/4/1916 to be Temporary Major, Abbassia
3/8/1916 Proceeded overseas for England, ex Alexandria
embarking on board HT Yunisian
7/10/1916 relinquished rank of Major on ceasing to command Anzac Provost Corp, England
1/12/1916 Mention in Despatches - London Gazette
1/1/1917 placed on Supernumeracy List - France
Captain posted for duty with AIF Department in UK
4/1/1917 marched in to Perham Downs, England
11/1/1917 marched out of Perham Downs to Rollestone
_______ Gun shot wound
He met and married his second wife, DORIS GERTRUDE PETERSON RICHARDS
- an Australian nurse from Geelong, in a military marriage in Cairo.
Reverend Lieutenant-Colonel Shannon carried out the marriage.
Members of the Anzac Police formed the guard of honour at the wedding and
when the couple left the wedding, they walked under an arch formed by crossed
swords and crossed rifles.
In due course Eric was sent to England as 2nd in Command 5th Training Battalion.
Here his first child, Patricia Erica Elliston was born.
22/4/1918 Captain marched in to 5th Training Battalion England (from 6th Training Battalion)
25/4/1918 Captain appointed 2nd in Command 5th Training Battalion (perm leader)
on reorganisation and to remain seconded
18/10/1918 Captain brought to the notice of Secretary of State,
12/12/1918 medical board held in Tidworth, England, noted that Captain Neill is permanently
unfit, transfered to 2nd Training Brigade
15/1/1919 marched out to concentration camp, No.15 camp, Codford, England
28/1/1919 marched to AIF HQ, Codford
29/1/1919 detached from perm cadre to 5th Training Battalion, Tidworth
30/1/1919 attached to HQ AIF Depot Bluthorpe Barracks, Tidworth
5/4/1919 Embarked on HMAT Warwickshire for duty in Colombo
15/4/1919 Member of the Order of the British Empire - London Gazette
(called to London for presentation on Armistice Day 1918,
and wrote a very moving record of his experiences that day.)
3/5/1919 disembarked into Colombo, and moved on to Ceylon,
to Provost Corp duties, supervising ANZAC troops
15/2/1920 embarked at Colombo, ex HMAT Friedrichsruh for Australia
9/3/1920 disembarked into Melbourne, Australia
7/6/1920 discharged from service
Medals:
Queen's South Africa Medal 1899 -1902
WWI 1914-15 Star (22514); British War medal (17693); Victory medal (17568).
Mention in Despatches; Member of the Order of the British Empire.
26/9/1955 Eric passed away of lung disease at Toorak in Melbourne, Victoria.
he was cremated and scattered.
(For and on behalf of Eric's grandaughter Jane Broadmore.)
Thank you to Jane for her personal family information and pictures.
Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan. 12/12/2014. Lest we forget.