SUTHONS, Archibald Percy
| Service Number: | 5888 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 June 1916, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showground, Moore Park, Sydney. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia, June 1889 |
| Home Town: | Lismore, Lismore Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Plate Layer (Track Worker) |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 9 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Hurstville War Memorial, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Jun 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5888, 18th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showground, Moore Park, Sydney. | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 5888, 18th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 5888, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Archibald Percy SUTHONS (Service Number 5888) was born at Hurstville about June 1889. He was a track worker with the Railways and this included between Concord West and Hornsby in 1911 and on the Cox’s River to Sodwalls Duplication in 1914.
Suthons enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds at Moore Park in Sydney on 13thJune 1916. He gave his wife, Emily Elsie Ella Suthons living in Forest Lodge as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 18th Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Ceramic’ on 7th October 1916 and reached Plymouth on 21st November 1916. In December he was with the 5th Training Battalion at Rollestone. He proceeded overseas to France and joined his Battalion on 22nd January 1917. On 9th October 1917 he was killed in action in Belgium. S/B Pte C H Hudson (5808) reported:
‘He was a S/B in A.Coy. The S/Bs of the 18th Battalion were sent to reinforce the S/Bs of the 20th Battalion for a raid on the German Lines which the latter were making by night at Polygon Wood. These 4 S/Bs of the 18th were Reynolds, Wilkinson, Furlong and Suthons. They had hardly arrived at the trenches occupied by the 20th and had just taken cover when a shell burst among them in their trench. Suthons was killed instantly; his head being blown off; Wilkinson was wounded; Furlong was also wounded. Reynolds went through the raid untouched.’
His military files simply record that he was buried, though no place is specified. The Red Cross files include observations that he was buried on the spot in the field. The National Roll of Honour records that he has no known grave and that he is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
Pensions of £2 per fortnight were awarded to his widow Emily, and £1 per fortnight to his son Harold Crawford from 13tth January 1918.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.