HAMENCE, Edward George
| Service Number: | 439 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 July 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 30th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Merewether, New South Wales, Australia, 24 June 1890 |
| Home Town: | Merewether, Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Assembler (fitter) |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 28 March 1917, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Merewether Memorial Gates, Merewether Public School Roll of Honour, Newcastle Congregational Church, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France), Wickham Honey Suckle Point (H.S.P.) Loco Railway Workshops Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 439, 30th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 439, 30th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Beltana embarkation_ship_number: A72 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 439, 30th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Beltana, Sydney |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
Edward George HAMENCE, (Service Number 439) was born on 24 June 1890 at Merewether. He first worked for the NSWGR as a casual fitters’ labourer in the Newcastle locomotive workshops in December 1911. The appointment only lasted two weeks, and he was ‘dispensed with’ though re-employed a fortnight later, this time for two and a half months until 15 April. On 16 April he was re-employed, now as a lifters’ assistant and temporary rather than casual. By the end of May Hamence had become a permanent employee, designated a ‘fitters’ labourer’ and then a ‘lifters’ assistant’. In November 1913 his role had been changed to ‘assembler’ and he was employed at Honeysuckle Point. It was from this role that he was released on 20 July 1915 to join the Expeditionary Forces.
Submitted 22 August 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Edward George HAMENCE (Service Number 439) was born on 24th June 1890 at Merewether (Newcastle). He first worked for the NSW Government Railways as a casual fitters’ labourer in the Newcastle locomotive workshops in December 1911. The appointment only lasted two weeks, and he was ‘dispensed with’. He was re-employed a fortnight later, this time for two and a half months until 15th April. On 16th April he was re-employed, now as a lifters’ assistant and temporary rather than casual. By the end of May Hamence had become a permanent employee, designated a ‘fitters’ labourer’ and then a ‘lifters’ assistant’. In November 1913 his role had been changed to ‘assembler’ and he was employed at Honeysuckle Point. It was from this role that he was released on 20th July 1915 to join the Expeditionary Forces.
Hamence enlisted at Liverpool on 21st July 1915, correctly describing his calling as ‘assembler’. He was not married and gave his mother as his next of kin.
He left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Beltana’ on 9th November 1915 and reached Suez on 11th December. While undergoing further training in Egypt he fell foul of authority and was given one day Field Punishment No. 2 for neglecting to obey an order. He left Egypt from Alexandria aboard HMAT ‘Honorata’ on 16th June 11916 and reached France at Marseilles on 23rd June 1916.
He was wounded in action, with a gunshot wound to his left leg less than a month after arriving at the Western Front. He was transferred to England in July. The rest of 1916 was spent in hospital and then on furlough. On 8th January 1917 he was again disciplined, this time for being out of bounds without a pass.
He returned to France and the 30th Australian Infantry Battalion in February.
He was killed in action on 28th March 1917. He has no known grave but is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
- based on notes for the Great Sydey Central Station Honour Board