PRITCHARD, Herbert Ernest
| Service Number: | 2141 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 September 1915, Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 30th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Lambton, New South Wales, Australia, 6 November 1886 |
| Home Town: | Lambton, Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Porter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Fromelles, France, 20 July 1916, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix, Bethune, Nord Pas de Calais Plot I, Row K, Grave. 70. Inscription: HE LIVED AS HE DIED A HERO |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Lambton Fallen Soldiers HR, Teralba Public School Boys HR |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2141, Depot Battalion , Newcastle, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Feb 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2141, 30th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ballarat, Sydney | |
| 16 Feb 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2141, 30th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ballarat embarkation_ship_number: A70 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2141, 30th Infantry Battalion, Disembarked Suez, Egypt | |
| 16 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2141, 30th Infantry Battalion, Embarked Alexandria for B.E.F per H.M.T. "Hororata" | |
| 23 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2141, 30th Infantry Battalion, Disembarked Marseilles, France | |
| 19 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2141, 30th Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix) | |
| 20 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2141, 30th Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix), Killed In Action |
Help us honour Herbert Ernest Pritchard's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
Let us remember a Fallen soldier of The Great War memorialised at Sandgate Cemetery.
On the 20th July 1916, Private Herbert Ernest Pritchard, known as Herb, 30th Battalion (Reg No-2141), railway porter from 13 Elder Street, Lambton, New South Wales, was Killed in Action during the Battle of Fromelles, age 29. Cause of death unknown.
Born at Lambton, New South Wales on the 6th November 1886 to William Alfred (died 17.3.1900, Lambton, N.S.W., age?) of Karoola Road, Lambton, N.S.W., and Mary Ann Pritchard (storekeeper, died 16.11.1942, Lambton, N.S.W., age?) of 13 Elder Street, Lambton, N.S.W., Herb enlisted on the 17th September 1915 at Newcastle, N.S.W.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137974234 - report of a send-off and the presentation of a medal to Herb and 40 other Railway and Tramway service recruits at King's Hall, Newcastle.
Mr. Pritchard’s name has been inscribed on the Lambton and New Lambton Roll of Honor, Lambton Park Citizens' Memorial Gates, Lambton Post Office Roll of Honor, Book of Gold, NSW Govt Railways and Tramways Roll of Honour, 1914-1919 and The Capt. Clarence Smith Jeffries (V.C.) and Pte. William Matthew Currey (V.C.) Memorial Wall.
I have placed poppies at the memorialised Pritchard gravesite in remembrance of the service and supreme sacrifice of their son Herb for God, King & Country. ANGLICAN 1-32. 41.
Older brother Rupert Charles (born about 1881, Gordon, Victoria, miner from Cardiff, via Collie, Western Australia, married, enlisted 7.10.1916, 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company, Reg No-6837, wounded in action - 9.4.1918 (gas), 4.10.1918 (gas), RTA 8.7.1919) also served during World War 1.
For more detail, see “Forever Remembered “
http://www.commemoratingwarheroes.com/cemetery-main-search/
Lest We Forget.
From Gary Mitchell, Sandgate Cemetery
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Herbert Ernest PRITCHARD was born on 6th November 1886 at Lambton in Newcastle, NSW. On 23rd April 1912 he joined the NSW Government Railways and Tramways as a 3rd class porter (temporary) in the Newcastle District of the Railways’ Traffic Branch. His position became Permanent on 20 May 1912. On 16th April 1913 he transferred to Newcastle Goods as a porter with an increase in pay. On 2nd October 1915 he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces.
Herbert officially joined the AIF on 17th September 1915 with the rank of Private (Service Number 2141). He was posted to the 3rd Reinforcements to the 30th Infantry Battalion. He nominated his widowed mother, Mary Ann Pritchard, as his next of kin. When he enlisted his address was the same as his mother’s, at Lambton in Newcastle.
He embarked for Egypt aboard HMAT A70 ‘Ballarat’ at Sydney on 18th February 1916 and disembarked at Suez on 23rd March 1916. On the voyage to Egypt, on 5th March 1916, he was charged with ‘Disobedience of Orders’, the offence being described as ‘Being on top of hospital’. For this he was fined 10 shillings.
After arriving in Egypt, he was taken on strength of the 30th Infantry Battalion on 1st April 1916. Following further training he embarked at Alexandria for France on 16th June 1916, disembarking at Marseilles on 23rd June 1916.
Less than a month later, on 20th July 1916, he was killed in action near Fromelles in France.
His grave is in Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix, Bethune, Nord Pas de Calais, France. His place of association is Lambton, Newcastle, NSW.
After his death his widowed mother was granted a pension of £2 per fortnight with effect from 29th October 1916.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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