POWELL, Bertram Ernest
| Service Number: | 5648 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 April 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Guildford, Western Australia, 1890 |
| Home Town: | Armadale, Armadale, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Armadale Primary School, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Farm Hand |
| Died: | Moora, Western Australia, 18 April 1950, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | Armadale Roll of Honor, Armadale War Memorial, Kelmscott-Armadale Parish Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5648, 28th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 5648, 28th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Surada embarkation_ship_number: A52 public_note: '' | |
| 26 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 5648, 28th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Surada, Fremantle | |
| 11 Aug 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 5648, 28th Infantry Battalion, Lihons, France 0 Bullet to right shoulder | |
| 2 Jan 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 5648, 28th Infantry Battalion, per A35 HMAT Berrima | |
| 31 Mar 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 5648, 28th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Bertram Ernest Powell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Born in Guildford WA, Bert grew up on a farm in Wongan, Armadale WA, the second of eight children. His father - Frederick Elijah Powell (b1864 in Norfolk, England) and Minnie Amelia Mears (b1873 in London, England) married in Guildford WA in 1889. Frederick - a Shepherd/Farm Labourer in Norfolk - grew barley, oats and vegetables and raised cattle on the farm in Armadale - in 1903 Frederick won the ploughning competition held in Armadale for the straightest and neatest ploughing. Bert and his siblings Fred and Harry attended Armadale Primary School, and all the children were birthed by a midwife - no doctors locally, and 'Mum had a great big medical book, she used that' according to younger brother Percy (1992). All travel and shopping was done with a horse and sulky.
Bert was working as a Farmhand in Armadale in April 1916 when he enlisted in the AIF - brothers Freddy and Harry also served in the AIF in WWI. Bert (Service No:5648) served with 28th Infantry Battalion in France, where he was WiA in August 1918 at Lihons - a bullet wound to the shoulder. Bert was Discharged in March 1919.
Returning to Armadale WA, Bert did not marry and worked as a Labourer and Farm Hand in Armadale, Dangin and Moora WA. During the 1930s Depression he received relief employment through the Armadale - Kelmscott Road Board. Bert died in 1950.