JAMES, Oscar
| Service Number: | 4349 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 April 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mudgee, New South Wales, 13 March 1880 |
| Home Town: | Claremont, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Castle Hill Public School |
| Occupation: | Horse Driver |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Villers Bretonneux, France, 3 May 1918, aged 38 years |
| Cemetery: |
Adelaide Cemetery Villers-Bretonneux, France Plot 3, Row Q, Grave 3, Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Apr 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4349, 2nd Pioneer Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 4349, 2nd Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Oct 1917: | Embarked Private, 4349, 2nd Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Melbourne | |
| 2 Jan 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 32nd Infantry Battalion | |
| 16 Apr 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 48th Infantry Battalion | |
| 3 May 1918: | Involvement Private, 4349, 48th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4349 awm_unit: 48 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-05-03 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Private Oscar James, 48th Battalion was the son of Edwin and Anne James of Castle Hill, New South Wales. He was born at Mudgee, New South Wales in 1880 and educated at Castle Hill.
He married Etta Elizabeth Petersen (1884-1935), daughter of Emily and Johannes Petersen, a Norwegian, at Cottesloe, Western Australia on 9 August 1904. They had two surviving children, a son Evan Paul Thomas (1906) and a daughter Hazel Heath (1908) - their first child died in child-birth.
Oscar James, a horse driver, enlisted at Perth in April 1917 and went to Blackboy Hill camp on 7 May 1917 with the Pioneers. He sailed for Melbourne and after training at Broadmeadows Camp embarked HMAT Aeneas at Port Melbourne on 30 October 1917 for England.
He went to Codford Camp for his traing and sailed for France on 1 April 1918. He was assigned to the 32nd Battalion before being transferred to the 48th Battalion after arrival in France.
Private Oscar James was only in the line four weeks before he was killed in action at Villers Bretonneux on 3 May 1918. Buried in the battlefield, 1000 yards west of Villers Bretonneux, his grave was later relocated to Adelaide British Cemetery.
His death was a tragedy for Etta, who had lost her father on 9 April 1918 and was left with two young children to raise. She never remarried and died at Fremantle in 1935.
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