Bert Albert EASTCOTT

EASTCOTT, Bert Albert

Service Number: 1541
Enlisted: 15 December 1914
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 4th Infantry Battalion
Born: Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia , 1885
Home Town: Oura, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Labourer
Died: 23 January 1948, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, NSW
RC21 - Roman Catholic FM 21, Position 2247
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World War 1 Service

15 Dec 1914: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4th Infantry Battalion
11 Feb 1915: Embarked Private, 1541, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Choon, Sydney
11 Feb 1915: Involvement Private, 1541, 4th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Choon embarkation_ship_number: A49 public_note: ''
Date unknown: Involvement 1541

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Biography contributed by Michelle Maddison

Bert Eastcott (Bertie Albert on his birth certificate) was one of three sons born to John and Rose Hannah (née Adams).  John (Senior) was a well-known bus and livery stable proprietor in Wagga.  All three – John, Henry and Bert – served during WWI, and John also served during the Boer War.  After Rose’s marriage to William Henry O’Hagan, Bert also gained a step-brother James Leslie O’Hagan.      

Bert wrote a letter to his mother Mrs R O’Hagan[1] of Oura Village, which was published in the Daily Advertiser (8 July 1915):

No. 1 Hospital Ship ‘Soudan’

Dear Mother – I have rather bad news to tell you.  I have been wounded, and lost my right arm by a piece of shrapnel.  I am recovering very well.  We are now on our way to Malta, and expect to arrive tomorrow.  From there I will write more.  Remember me to all – From your loving son, B. Eastcott 23/5/15’. 

Bert arrived in Sydney on Friday 26 November 1915, and his homecoming was reported in the Democrat (Lithgow):

‘Bert Eastcott, a brother of Mr. Eastcott of the West End Ham and Beef shop, was among the returned wounded who arrived in Sydney yesterday.  He has had quite enough for any man, as he has lost his right arm, and got a bullet through his wrist and through his head besides being gashed in the chest.  Received his injuries through the bursting of [an] 11 inch shell.  His arm was blown thirty yards away.  In fact he was thrown in among 300 dead and his mate said “Poor Bert has gone,” but someone saw him move and he was rescued.  Strange to say, he just recovered consciousness in time to see his mate blown to pieces...’

When his experiences were reported in the Daily Advertiser newspaper on Friday 17 December 1915, Bert was described as ‘a fine sturdy example of young Australian manhood’.  He was interviewed for this article during a visit home to his parents living at Oura Village.  At the time, he was on leave from the Randwick Military Hospital, where he was under observation.

Bert married Annie Devlin in 1916 at Waverley, and the Government offered to build him a cottage at Daceyville.  The Wagga Red Cross League, on hearing this, decided to hold a social evening to provide him with some furniture and all household linen required as a wedding present.[2] 

In August 1916, the League received a further letter from Bert saying that he needed his house furnished as soon as possible, as the Minister for Lands was ready to hand over the keys.  As a result, the League was going to hold a euchre party and dance in the Masonic Hall on Wednesday 16 August 1916 to raise urgent funds.[3] 



[1] Bert’s mother Rose had remarried by this time, her first husband having pre-deceased her.
[2] DA, Monday 31 July 1916, page 3
[3] DA, Monday 14 August 1916, page 3

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