S7261
CAWTHORNE, Cyril
| Service Number: | 953 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 43rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Circumstances of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Gilles Street Primary School WW1 Honour Roll (New), Unley Town Hall WW1 Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 953, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 953, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Lance Sergeant, 953, 43rd Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Cyril Cawthorne's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
On the 1st of February 1916, at 21 years of age, Cyril Cawthorne Enlisted in the A.I.F. Before enlisting Cyril was a single man, living in Adelaide, South Australia, working as a Clerk. He Lived in the suburb of Prospect, with his mother Dorothea Cawthorne (next of kin). As shown in his attestation papers, Cyril was an average height of 5’10 and weighed just under 60kg. His chest was 32 inches.
Upon enlistment Cyril was assigned to the 43rd INF Battalion. Before leaving Adelaide, Cyril and his battalion were housed at the Morphettville Racecourse. He did firearm training on the sand dunes between Henley and Glenelg before embarking from Adelaide Via the HMAT A19 Afric on the 9th of June 1916. They stopped over in England to do more combat training, before catching a train from Southampton to Marseilles, France where they disembarked.
After disembarking in Marseilles, Cyril’s battalion was involved in the third battle of Ypres. Based on the records from this time, Cyril sadly got an injury out in the field very soon into battle. He was sent back to England on the 13th of November 1916 and stayed in the hospital for 7 days. After his short stay in hospital, Cyril was immediately sent back to France.
On the 3/11/17 Cyril left to France for some well-earned time off. He returned to the field on the 1st of April 1918. As soon as Cyril was back from leave, his battalion was involved in fighting to push the Germans back from the Western Front. It was during this battle when Cyril was mentioned in despatches for his bravery. In July of that same year Cyril was involved in general Monash’s attack on Hamal, where over 1,300 Australians were killed. Cyril had no hospital visits and survived without any life-threatening injuries. In August of the same year Cyril was again involved in another battle. This time he was helping drive back the Germans from the Hindenburg line.
On the 2/11/18 Cyril once again left the field to France on leave. He was on leave untill the 31st of December, when he was unfortunately sent to hospital with an unknown sickness. During Cyril’s time away guns on the Western Front fell silent. He returned from leave on the 13th of January 1919 and was sent back to Australia in May 1919.
On the 27th of July 1931 Cyril Married Hilda Eliza King, they lived in Daw Park, Adelaide. In 1971 at aged 77 Cyril sadly passed away in his home at Daw Park. He was buried close by in Centennial Park cemetery.
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