CORDINGLEY, Harold Austin
| Service Number: | 25 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 September 1914, Enlisted at Perth, took oath on 16.10.14 at Helena Vale |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 1891 |
| Home Town: | Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Nedlands, Perth, Western Australia, 7 September 1967, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Privately Cremated Cremation. Memorialsised at Fremantle Cemetery, Memorial Crematorium Garden J Position 0095 |
| Memorials: | Fremantle Scots Church Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 25, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), Enlisted at Perth, took oath on 16.10.14 at Helena Vale | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 25, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 25, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Helen Harmer
Harold Austin Cordingley was born in 1891 in Bendigo Victoria. He enlisted on 8.9.14 at Perth and took the oath on the 16.10.1914 at Helena Vale. A 23 year-old labourer and Presbyterian, he was described as being 5 feet 6 inches tall, with a chest measurement of 33-34½ inches, fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. Harold’s wife, Florence Ray Cordingley, lived in McCleary St, Beaconsfield. In 1907, whilst working at Pearce Bros boot factory in North Fremantle, Harold had got his hand caught in a blocking machine and three fingers were badly crushed. Newspaper articles of the time criticised the company for asking the 15½ year-old boy to walk to the hospital for treatment, in the company of another lad. On the way, he fainted and was picked up by a passing lady driving a trap and taken there. Eventually, the company settled for £50 damages over the unsafe machine. The fact that he was missing the 2nd and 3rd fingers of his right hand, lost in this accident, was missed during his medical examination for the AIF.
Harold was allocated service number 25 and the rank of Private in the 16th Infantry Battalion. He embarked from Melbourne on HMAT Ceramic A40 on the 22.12.14. It was only after he was injured with a gunshot wound to his left arm at Gallipoli on the 2.5.15, that medics realised that he could not hold a rifle, so he was repatriated to Australia. He returned on the Ballarat on the 16.6.15 and disembarked at Melbourne. He also suffered from Rheumatism, which caused swelling in the shoulder. Harold was discharged on the 13.12.15. He died on the 7.9.1967 in Nedlands, was cremated and memorialised at Fremantle Cemetery, Memorial Crematorium J, Garden J Position 0095.
NAA WW1 Service Record Barcode 3420792
Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954) Sun 28 Apr 1907 Page 12 FREMANTLE AFFAIR
Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954) Sun 5 May 1907 Page 12 PIOUS PEARCE BROS.
The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) Tue 17 Sept 1907 Page 3 AN AMPUTATED FINGER.
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