NATION, Eric Cyril
| Service Numbers: | 3246A, 3246 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 July 1915, Keswick, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 50th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Magill, South Australia, September 1896 |
| Home Town: | Magill, Campbelltown, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Magill Public School and Norwood High School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium , 10 June 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Norwood Baptist Church WW1 Honour Rolls |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3246A, Keswick, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3246A, 10th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
| 27 Oct 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3246A, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Adelaide | |
| 10 Jun 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3246, 50th Infantry Battalion, Battle of Messines, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3246 awm_unit: 50 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-06-10 |
Help us honour Eric Cyril Nation's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography
Eric Cyril Nation was born In Magill, South Australia and lived in number 1 Prosser Avenue, Norwood, South Australia his whole life (which is still there to this day). For schooling Eric attended Magill Primary School and attended Norwood high school. When Eric finished school he became a laborer. The Nation family was all Baptist. Eric didn’t have a wife or a girlfriend. When Eric enlisted for the war he was only 18 years old and 8 months was only 5 foot 7 inches and 124Ibs. Eric enlisted on the 26 of July 1915 at the Norwood town hall and his regimental number was 3246.Eric had two brothers and three cousins that fought in the war the brothers were Ralph Nation who was in the 27th and Clifford Nation, which was in the 10th battalion, which was the same as Eric. Eric before the war served in other military services he served in the Senior Cadets for 3 years; 1 year in the 79th Infantry, Citizen Military forces (still serving at time of AIF enlistment). When Eric enlisted his rank was a private. Eric first joined the 10th Battalion. The 10th battalion embarked from South Australia, on board HMAT a24 Benalla and on the 27 October 1915.
Eric started in the 10th Battalion with his brother Clifford Nation were they fought in the battle of pozieres in 1916 and then proceeded to Flanders. Then he was moved into the 50th battalion were they fought in at Messines. Eric got in trouble with the law twice while he was in the army the first was when Eric was absent without leave from battalion in Messines and Eric also overstated his leave from 1400 13.3.1916 to 0800 14.3.16 in Egypt he lost 2 days pay for this. On the 1/8/17 Eric was evacuated sick to hospital with influenza then on the 24/2/17 he was sent to hospital again and had influenza again. When he was let out of hospital he rejoined his battalion and joined the battle of Messines. On the 7 of June 1917, the Messene offence was designed to force the enemy (Germany) to withdraw from the main battlefront. The plan was to dig underground until they reached the Germany trenches then planted bombs that could be mainly detonated. When they detonated the bombs they all rushed forward capturing the main objective.
A couple days later on the 17/6/17 Eric was killed in action. He was buried 1 mile northeast, of Messines, Belgium. Fighting destroyed the grave and his body was never recovered. His commemoration details are in the Menin Gate memorial panel 29. Eric won three medals these were 1914-1915 star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Click images to start slideshow.