RUTHERFORD, Hiram
| Service Number: | 3885 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 46th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sunbury, Victoria, Australia, 1894 |
| Home Town: | Ballarat, Central Highlands, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Sunbury State School 1002, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Civil Servant |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 11 April 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Sunbury War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3885, 46th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 3885, 14th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 3885, 14th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 11 Apr 1917: | Involvement Private, 3885, 46th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3885 awm_unit: 46th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-04-11 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Ross Martin
Hiram Rutherford was born in Sunbury in 1895, the son of James and Eliza Rutherford and first went to school at the Sunbury State School #1002. His family moved to the Ballarat area where he attended Alfredton State School #1091 and then Ballarat High School.
He was working for the Lands Department in Melbourne as a civil servant when he joined the AIF on 16/7/1915.
He was appointed to the 14th Battalion as a reenforcement and left Melbourne aboard the HMAT Ceramic on 23/11/1915.
In Egypt he was reassigned to the 46th Battalion and he arrived in France with this battalion on 8/6/1916.
He sustained a slight wound, possible at Pozieres on 1/9/1916 but rejoined his battalion 2 days later.
In January and February the Battalion fought in the Dernancourt/Fricourt area. In early April 1917 they were brought into the attack on the Hindenberg Line near Bullecourt.
In the early morning of 11 April 1917 the Battalion was part of this attack but, due to the non arrival of the promised tanks, the operation failed and was very costly for the Battalion.
In regard to Hiram Rutherford the following report by Private W Broome tells us of his fate. "I saw him killed between 7am and 8am on the morning of April 11th 1917. He was hit in the head by a machine gun bullet and died instantly. As far as I know he was left unburied as the ground had to be evacuated and was afterwards held by the enemy. He came from Ballarat in Victoria, was tall and fair. Christian name was Hiram. I did not know him very well".
Hiram's body was not recovered and he is remembered on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial.