Arthur Henry AUSTIN

AUSTIN, Arthur Henry

Service Number: 2031
Enlisted: 19 March 1916
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 36th Infantry Battalion
Born: Pyrmont, Sydney, NSW, 1898
Home Town: Redfern, City of Sydney, New South Wales
Schooling: Glebe Superior Public School
Occupation: Blacksmith
Died: Killed in Action, London Road, Houplines, near Armentieres, France, 17 March 1917
Cemetery: Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres
V A 19, Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres, Lille, Nord Pas de Calais, France, Bapaume Communal Cemetery, Bapaume, Picardie, France
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Leichhardt All Souls Church AUSTIN Memorial Window
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World War 1 Service

19 Mar 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2031, 36th Infantry Battalion
24 Aug 1916: Involvement Private, 2031, 36th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: ''
24 Aug 1916: Embarked Private, 2031, 36th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Anchises, Sydney

Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board

Arthur Henry AUSTIN, (Service Number 2031) was born on 20 March 1898 in Pyrmont and became an apprentice blacksmith at Eveleigh when he had just turned 15. Before he had finished his apprenticeship in March 1916 he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces. He would have turned 18 only days before so perhaps he was waiting for that event which made him eligible to enlist, with his parents’ consent.
He had been a senior cadet for a number of years, and on his enlistment papers he wrote that he had been discharged from those obligations, at his own request, to join the AIF. Despite his youth he attended No. 10 Depot School for NCOs and qualified as a Sergeant and his papers state that on 16 August 1916 he was appointed to that rank, though all other records refer to him as a Private.
He left Australia on HMAT ‘Anchises’ in August 1916, reached Devonport UK in October and a month later was in France fighting. Four months later he was killed in action three days before his 19th birthday. He is buried in the Cité Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentières.
Among his personal effects, such as cigarette cases, cards, photos, and a blue handkerchief, which were eventually returned to his family, were Sergeant’s Stripes.
(NAA B2455-3041543)

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Biography contributed by Faithe Jones

Son of  Arthur Edward and Lily Mary AUSTIN, 17 Macauley Street, Leichhardt, New South Wales