Eric Vansittart Ernest NEILL MBE, MID

NEILL, Eric Vansittart Ernest

Service Number: Officer
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:
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Boer War Service

1 Jan 1900: Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Second Lieutenant

World War 1 Service

23 Apr 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Captain, Melbourne, Victoria
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: ''

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.

Biography

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.

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