HILLS, Joseph Norman
| Service Number: | 1650 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 December 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Company Sergeant Major |
| Last Unit: | 47th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Hamilton, Tasmania, Australia, 20 April 1890 |
| Home Town: | Hamilton, Central Highlands, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, Dernancourt, France, 5 April 1918, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gretna War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1650, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Feb 1915: | Involvement Private, 1650, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Feb 1915: | Embarked Private, 1650, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Melbourne | |
| 7 Aug 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 1650, 15th Infantry Battalion, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli, Gunshot wound thigh | |
| 20 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 47th Infantry Battalion | |
| 9 Aug 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 47th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Sep 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1650, 47th Infantry Battalion, Mouquet Farm, Shell shock | |
| 8 Dec 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 47th Infantry Battalion | |
| 19 Apr 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 47th Infantry Battalion | |
| 28 Oct 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Company Sergeant Major, 47th Infantry Battalion | |
| 3 Apr 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Company Sergeant Major, 1650, Dernancourt/Ancre, Remained at duty | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Involvement 1650, 47th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1650 awm_unit: 47th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Company Sergeant Major awm_died_date: 1918-04-05 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Joseph Norman Hills was the son of Eden Thomas and Sarah Hills of Hamilton, Tasmania. He enlisted in 1914, at 24 years of age and gave his marital status as ‘widowed and without children’. He had married as a young man in 1913, to Ruby Hutt, and she passed away within six days of their birth of their son, during July 1913, at 25 years of age. The son died only five months later, in January 1914.
Hills was known as ‘Norman’ to his family and friends and he joined the 15th Battalion on Gallipoli on the 8 May 1915, two weeks after the Anzac landing. He was badly wounded during the August offensive, shot in the thigh, and was evacuated to England via Malta soon after.
Joseph Norman Hills epitomises the Australian spirit in the AIF in that as a still as a young man, who had experienced the tragedy of his losing his wife and child before the war, he returned to Egypt and was posted to the 47th Battalion, taking part in all their major battles of 1916 and 1917, rising to the rank of Company Sergeant Major in October 1917. The Company Sergeant Major was regarded as the link between the officers in the Company and the 200 odd other ranks. He advised his company commander about matters concerning the senior NCO’s and other ranks with regard to discipline and morale. He was the man who could resolve many problems within a unit by imposing his character.
He was wounded at Pozieres, suffering shell shock, which did not keep him out of action for long.
At Dernancourt in France in April 1918, C.S.M. Hills was wounded on 3 April 1915, staying on duty until he was finally killed in action two days later. The defence of Dernancourt on 5 April 1917 against an overwhelming German assault was a great achievement by the Australians and the 47th Battalion was right in the path of the assault. Charles Bean wrote of Dernancourt, “The dead and wounded of the 47th lay everywhere underfoot.”
Just as remarkable was the fact that Norman Hills had a brother who was made of similar material, 1192 Company Quartermaster Sergeant Clifford John Mills M.M., an original member of the 15th Battalion. Clifford had won his Military Medal during the heavy fighting near Zonnebeke, Belgium, in September 1917, and had been twice wounded. He was returned to Australia in March 1918, just before his brother was killed.
Another brother, 6038 Private Raymond Timothy Hills 12th Battalion AIF, returned to Australia in early 1919, having also been wounded on four separate occasions.
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