MORRIS, Joseph Clarence
| Service Number: | 310 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 August 1914, An original member of C Company 12th Bn. |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 52nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Burnie, Tasmania, Australia, 8 December 1895 |
| Home Town: | Burnie, Burnie, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Baker |
| Died: | Killed in action, Mouquet Farm, France, 3 September 1916, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Serre Road Cemetery No.1 Plot VIII, Row F, Grave No. 11. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Burnie War Memorial, Launceston Cenotaph |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 310, 12th Infantry Battalion, An original member of C Company 12th Bn. | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 310, 12th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Hobart embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 310, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Hobart | |
| 3 Sep 1916: | Involvement Sergeant, 310, 52nd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 310 awm_unit: 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1916-09-03 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Joseph Clarence Morris was the son of Robert and Fannie Morris of Burnie, Tasmania. He was one of three brothers who enlisted in the AIF during WW1. They all gave their occupations as bakers. His older brother 3190 Sergeant James Walter Morris 47th Battalion AIF was later killed in action in France on 28 March 1918, aged 25. A third brother, 928 Robert Watson Morris 12th Battalion AIF, was wounded in action on four occasions and awarded a Military Medal for bravery before he returned to Australia in 1919.
Joseph was one of the first Australians to enlist in August 1914 and he was with the 12th Battalion during the Anzac landing on Turkey. He served at Gallipoli almost for the duration, being evacuated sick in October 1915. During 1916 he was promoted to Corporal, then Sergeant and transferred to the newly formed 52nd Battalion. The unit was decimated in the last Australian attack on Mouquet Farm on the night of 3 September 1916. He was reported as wounded on that night, then wounded and missing. Several men reported him as last being seen going back to the dressing station wounded. A note in his service file states his body was found and buried near Mouquet Farm by British soldiers of the 3rd Cavalry Division during October 1916.
His next of kin, his father Robert Morris, died in Burnie during 1920 at the age of 50, having worked on the Burnie railroads for much of his life.
During 1923 Joseph’s remains were found by the Commonwealth War Graves, identifiable by the presence of his identity disc. He was buried in a military cemetery and the disc was returned to his mother, Fannie Morris, eight years after his death, during late 1924.
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