TONETTI, John Thomas
| Service Number: | 209 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 December 1915, An original of A Company |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 34th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Alexandria, New South Wales, Australia, January 1886 |
| Home Town: | Singleton, Northumberland, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer with Railway Permanent Way (Track worker) |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 1 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Ypres Reservoir Cemetery Plot I, Row G, Grave 25 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 209, 34th Infantry Battalion, An original of A Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 209, 34th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 2 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 209, 34th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
John Thomas TONETTI (Service Number 209) was born about January 1886 at Alexandria in Sydney . He worked for the Railways Permanent Way (track worker).
Tonetti enlisted at Singleton on 30th December, in ‘The Year of Our Lord 1915. ’He gave his ‘trade or calling’ on his Attestation Papers as ‘Labourer’. and gave his wife, Mary Tonetti living in Port Macquarie as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 34th Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Honorata’ at Sydney on 2nd May 1916 and reached Plymouth (England) on 23rd June 1916, aboard HMT ‘Aragon’, having changed transports.
On 21st November 1916 he proceeded overseas to France through Southampton and joined the 34th Battalion. In December he was admitted to the 10th Field Ambulance with with trench feet. He was transferred to the 8th Casualty Clearing Station, No. 4 Ambulance Train, No. 5 British Red Cross and 14th General Hospital. He embarked for England on the Hospital Ship ‘Jan Breydel’ and went to the Norfolk War Hospital, where he stayed until 5 March 1917. Then he transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital. He had furlough in the middle of the month and then reported to No. 1 Command Depot at Perham Downs. In April he transferred to the 63rd Battalion for duties in England. It was the end of August before he returned to France and the 34th Battalion, but not taken on strength until 2nd September 1917. Only seven days later he was in hospital again, this time with scabies. He first went to the 9th Field Ambulance, then the 4th Stationary Hospital. This time he was back with his unit in a couple of weeks.
Tonetti was wounded in action with a gunshot to his head on 1st October 1917. He died of those wounds at the 2nd Anzac Central Medical Dressing Station the same day. He was buried at the Ypres Reservoir North Cemetery.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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