Joseph John BLUNT

Joseph John BLUNT Update Details

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BLUNT, Joseph John

Service Number:	6960
Enlisted:	Not yet discovered
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	15th Infantry Battalion
Born:	Running Creek, Queensland, Australia, 15 January 1884
Home Town:	Canungra, Scenic Rim, Queensland
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Woodworker
Died:	Killed in Action, France, 7 July 1917, aged 33 years
Cemetery:	Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord Plot III, Row D, Grave No. 213
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Beaudesert War Memorial, Canungra War Memorial, Cooroy War Memorial, Kilcoy Honour Roll

World War 1 Service

25 Nov 1916:	Involvement Private, 6960, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Beltana embarkation_ship_number: A72 public_note: ''
25 Nov 1916:	Embarked Private, 6960, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Beltana, Sydney

Narrative

Joseph John BLUNT #6960 15th Battalion

Joe Blunt reported he had been born at Running Creek near Rathdowney but by the time he presented himself for enlistment on 12th June 1916, he was living in Kilcoy where he was employed in the timber industry. The Blunt family would appear to have been involved in timber getting and sawmilling in and around the Beaudesert, Canungra and Rathdowney districts.

At the time of enlistment, Joe was 32 years old, married with four children. After a period of training at Enoggera Joe was allotted as a reinforcement for the 15th Battalion. He travelled to Sydney by train where he embarked on the “Beltana” on 25th November 1916. His wife, Ida, who had remained in Kilcoy gave birth to their fifth child just before Joe’s departure.

Upon arrival at Portsmouth in Devon, Joe spent the next four months in a training battalion at Codford before crossing the English Channel to France where he was taken on by the 15th. The 15th Battalion, in May of 1917, was enjoying a period of rest and recuperation after the battalion had been reduced in numbers to around 500 (nominal strength of an infantry battalion was around 950) at Bullecourt the previous month. Time was spent in musketry, bomb throwing and rifle grenade drill in preparation for the next stint in the frontline. While engaged in fatigue duty behind the lines, Joe injured his feet and he spent two weeks recovering at a casualty clearing station.

Soon after returning to his unit in mid-June, Joe was again being treated at the 11th Casualty Clearing Station at Bailleul, this time the diagnosis was influenza and trench fever. On 7th July, and still in hospital at the CCS, Joe was killed when a German aircraft attacked the CCS. Red Cross reports say he was killed in a bombing raid but the official file records death from multiple gun shot wounds; undoubtedly fired by machine gun during a strafing run.

Joe was buried in the Bailleul Communal Cemetery adjacent to the CCS. His wife, Ida was granted a pension as were his children. Ida eventually remarried and by the time that Joe’s service medals were being distributed, Ida was Ida Brown and her address was Lingard and Sons , Bakers of Greenslopes.

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