Ernest William HORNER

HORNER, Ernest William

Service Number: 532
Enlisted: 24 January 1916, Perth
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 44th Infantry Battalion
Born: Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia, 12 September 1887
Home Town: North Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Wood Machinist
Died: Killed in Action, Armentieres, France, 16 February 1917, aged 29 years
Cemetery: Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres
IV E 41
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Fremantle (Unknown Origin) Roll of Honour, Fremantle Fallen Sailors & Soldiers Memorial, Midland Railway Workshops Soldiers Memorial
Show Relationships

World War 1 Service

24 Jan 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 532, 44th Infantry Battalion, Perth
6 Jun 1916: Involvement Private, 532, 44th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Suevic embarkation_ship_number: A29 public_note: ''
6 Jun 1916: Embarked Private, 532, 44th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suevic, Fremantle
25 Nov 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 532, 44th Infantry Battalion

Help us honour Ernest William Horner's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Michael Silver

Private Ernest William Horner was born and educated at Fremantle, Western Australia. The son of Elizabeth and William Horner of Swan Street, North Fremantle, he married Alice Maria Richardson, the daughter of Frederick and Marian Richardson of Chester Road, Claremont on 28 December 1912 at Subiaco.

A wood machinist with the Western Australian Government Railways at Midland Junction, Ernest and his wife Alice were living in North Perth when he enlisted for service with the AIF in January 1916. He embarked HMAT Suevic at Fremantle on 6 June 1916 for England and the war zone.

After training at Larkhill on the Salisbury Plain, Private Horner crossed with the 44th Battalion AIF to France in late November 1916. Just over two months later he was dead - killed in action at Armentieres on 16 February 1917. He was buried at Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres.

Back in Australia, Alice Horner mourned her loss and then married Frederick Charles Sales in 1921. They were married for 35 years before his death in 1956. Alice died in January 1979 at Hamiliton Hill at the grand age of 91.

Read more...