HAMILTON, Kenneth George
| Service Number: | 581 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | Mining Corps |
| Born: | Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia, 1895 |
| Home Town: | Fitzroy, Yarra, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Napier Street State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Hairdresser |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 25 April 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) IV C 10 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 581, Mining Corps | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Feb 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 581, Mining Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Feb 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 581, Mining Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Feb 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 581, Mining Corps, HMAT Ulysses, Sydney | |
| 20 Feb 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 581, Mining Corps, HMAT Ulysses, Sydney | |
| 25 Apr 1917: | Involvement Sapper, 581, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 581 awm_unit: 1st Australian Tunnelling Company awm_rank: Sapper awm_died_date: 1917-04-25 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Hamilton stood 5 feet 2 inches and weighed 49.5 kilograms on enlistment.
Herald (Melbourne) Saturday August 25, 1917:
GALLANT LAD KILLED
While serving on Hill 60, in Flanders, on April 25, Sapper Kenneth George Hamilton, one of the smallest soldiers in the Australian Imperial Force, was killed by a gas shell. He was the third son of Mrs Hamilton, of Gore street, Fitzroy.
Failing in chest measurements, he was rejected at the Melbourne Recruiting Depot when he first offered himself, but three months later, having trained at a physical culture school, he was passed, and when he put on his uniform his friends jokingly referred to his as the boy-scout. He was attached to the Miners’ Corps, and soon became a favourite among his taller comrades from the mining centres.
Later Sapper Hamilton was appointed batman to Captain Ernest S. Anderson, and on the arrival of the company at Ypres (pronounced ‘Wipers’ by the soldiers) he was responsible for a subtle joke at the censor’s expense. He posted a handkerchief to his mother, with a note stating:—“You will know from this the town we are at.”
In a few months a lovable boy was changed into a sturdy soldier and a man, and his death is widely regretted.