DOIG, James John
| Service Number: | 3370 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 November 1916, Enlisted at Perth, WA |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 1880 |
| Home Town: | West Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | North Eaglehawk State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Mill Hand |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Celtic Wood, Belgium, 9 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Commemorated in the White Hills Cemetery, Victoria, |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Nov 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3370, Enlisted at Perth, WA | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Dec 1916: | Involvement Private, 3370, 6th Pioneer Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Dec 1916: | Involvement Private, 3370, 7th Pioneer Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Dec 1916: | Embarked Private, 3370, 6th Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Fremantle | |
| 23 Dec 1916: | Embarked Private, 3370, 7th Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Fremantle | |
| 11 Jul 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 10th Infantry Battalion, Fovant, UK. Joined unit in Belgium on 5 October 1917. he was missing, later declared killed in action at Westhoek Ridge, on 8 October 1917. | |
| 8 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 3370, 10th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3370 awm_unit: 10 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-10-08 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
Commemorated in White Hills Cemetery, Victoria.
Parents: William Glen (d. 20 April 1903) and Mary Agness DOIG (d. 13 December 1917), 10 Drought Street, Bendigo, Victoria. Native of Myer's Flat, Victoria
Cousins:
7063 Pte James McCONNELL, 21st Bn, killed in action, 14 April 1918; 5140 Pte Arthur McCONNELL, 59th Bn, killed in action, 27 October 1917; 6521 Pte William Edward JONES, 7th Bn, killed in action, 21 April 1917.
Biography contributed by Robert Kearney
RAID ON CELTIC WOOD
3370 Private James John Doig from Bendigo, Victoria when he enlisted in November 1916 was working as a mill hand in Perth, Western Australia. In late December, he left Australia as a reinforcement for the 5th Pioneer Battalion and commenced pioneer training at Larkhill, England in February 1917.
After transferring to the 10th Battalion in July, he underwent infantry training for three months and joined the battalion on 5 October 1917.
Private Doig joined the battalion on 5 October and was one of the only men who truly did fit the term ‘inexperienced’ that has been frequently used to describe the raiders.
Although the move up with the reinforcements during the night before the raid would have been a terrifying experience, it would have been no worse than that experienced by every infantryman on his first day in battle.
In a letter of reply to the OIC Base Records dated 3 July 1921, Mrs Mary Doig said she had no further news from or about her son and was sorry she could be of no assistance concerning his death.
She wrote that all she knew was that he must have been transferred to 10th Battalion after arriving in France, for when she was officially notified of his death she was told he was killed while in the battalion.
‘...They merely said killed in action in Belgium. I have spoken with a young officer at the Australian War Museum ... He said that his company was in action between 4th & 8th October at Passchendaele and that my son must have been killed during that time because the 10th Battn were in action on his left. He (my son) was reported killed in action 8th October 1917 but I suppose that would be the day they called the roll and found him missing. ...[1]
Technically, Private Doig was found to be missing during the period, noon 8 October -noon 9 October, but could not have been missing before 8 October, as he did not come up until that night. Owing to their late relief, the roll was not called until 10 October, so Doig must have been reported missing after the raid on 9 October.
He was originally recorded on the 13 October Field Return as missing 8 October 1917 but the finding by the Court of Inquiry convened in May 1981 was that he had been ‘killed in action’ on that date.
This extract from a letter written by Glen P. Jones in June 2010 about his grandfather and Great Uncle James Doig shows how difficult it was to find work before the war and how keen James Doig was to enlist.
‘He and my Grandfather had ridden their bikes from Bendigo to Kalgoorlie in 1898/9 to look for work. They were both carpenters and my Grandfather had been building wooden poppet heads in Bendigo. My Grandfather (fortunately for me) came back in time to marry in 1902 - whilst James stayed in WA. At the time of his enlistment he was living in Perth and had made friends with (or was a boarder) with a Mrs Taylor who was shown as his Executor at that time. He attempted to enlist in 1915 and was rejected because of defective teeth but was accepted in November of 1916. He embarked on 23 December 1916 on HMAT Berrima from Freemantle for Devonport where he disembarked and marched to Larkhill where he joined the 5th Pioneer Training Battalion at Larkhill. He then went to Flanders where he joined the 10th Battalion on 5 October 1917.’
[1]National Archives of Australia : B 2455, , Doig James John Davies / 3512176, viewed 10 August 2011.
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