James Willoughby DRURY

DRURY, James Willoughby

Service Number: Officer
Enlisted: 8 October 1915, Brisbane, Queensland
Last Rank: Second Lieutenant
Last Unit: 41st Infantry Battalion
Born: Plymouth, England, 1874
Home Town: South Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Printer
Died: Natural causes, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 28 December 1948
Cemetery: Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens & Crematorium, Queensland
Memorials: Queensland Government Printing Office
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World War 1 Service

8 Oct 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Brisbane, Queensland
14 Jun 1917: Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, 41st Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: ''
14 Jun 1917: Embarked AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 41st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Sydney
6 Jun 1918: Discharged AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 41st Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Aubrey Bairstow

James Willoughby Drury was born in Plymouth, Devon in 1878. He emigrated to New Zealand and was working as a printer in Auckland when he attested for the 7th N.Z. Contingent and, having been commissioned Lieutenant, was embarked in the S.S. Gulf of Taranto in April 1901.

Brief service in the Transvaal ensued but he was invalided home in November of the same year. Drury submitted a pension claim for an injury to his knee stating it was caused by a ricochet bullet, however, further investigation by the pensions board ascertained that no record of any injury had been received on his initial discharge and a letter from his old C.O. confirmed the lack of injury at the time, scuppering his claim.

He was residing in Australia at the start of WW1 still working as a printer. In November 1915, he attested for the Australian Expeditionary Force at Brisbane and was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant on the home establishment.

In June 1917, however, he was embarked for England, where he served in the 41st Battalion until the year’s end. He was discharged as a consequence of an injury to a foot caused by a machine-gun tripod.  He died in Brisbane in 1948 aged 70.

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