S14540
WINZER, Percy Hornsby
| Service Number: | 4134 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Tunnelling Company (inc. 4th Tunnelling Company) |
| Born: | Norwood, South Australia, 3 September 1878 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | 1953, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Renmark Cemetery, S.A. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 4134, 1st Tunnelling Company (inc. 4th Tunnelling Company) | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 May 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 4134, 2nd Tunnelling Company (inc. 5th Tunnelling Company), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
| 25 May 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 4134, 1st Tunnelling Company (inc. 4th Tunnelling Company), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
| 25 May 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 4134, 2nd Tunnelling Company (inc. 5th Tunnelling Company), HMAT Warilda, Melbourne | |
| 25 May 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 4134, 1st Tunnelling Company (inc. 4th Tunnelling Company), HMAT Warilda, Melbourne | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Private, 4134 |
A quiet man, but a true hero
Percy Hornsby Winzer was my great uncle whom I knew only briefly when I was a child.
He seemed to be a quiet man and a loner, which belied his heroic deeds in WW1 as a Tunneller.
I didn't learn of his heroism until many years later when researching my family tree.
Sadly I believe he died alone in 1953 aged 75 years in his shack on the River Murray near Renmark SA and is buried in the Renmark Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
I honour you my brave Uncle for the war horrors you endured.
Submitted 28 May 2016 by Brenton Tanner
Biography contributed by Mouse Yuqing
On 3 September 1878, one boy baby with grey eyes and brown hair was born into a Methodist family in Norwood, South Australia. His father P G Winzer and mother Jane gave him a name, Percy Hornsby Winzer.
After he graduated form school, Percy lived as a labourer until 7 February 1916, when he enlisted in the Army at 38 years 5 months old. He was a sapper with the No. 4 tunnelling company. During the war he changed units to the 2nd tunnelling company. He was lucky enough to live through the war then come back on board HMAT A69W on7 July 1919.
After the war, he married Mary May Winzer but then got divorced in 1950 when he was 72.
He died of natural causes in 1953 with no wife and children. After he died, his nephew Brenton Tanner wrote a story for him on the RSL.