PICKERING, Stephen
| Service Numbers: | 3598, 3598A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 August 1915, Enlisted at Sydney |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 53rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Woonona, New South Wales, Australia, 12 January 1890 |
| Home Town: | Hornsby, Hornsby Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Woollahra School, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Engine Driver |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 13 May 1917, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" No known grave, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Hornsby War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3598, 17th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Sydney | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 3598, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 3598, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Sydney | |
| 3 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 53rd Infantry Battalion, Transferred from the 17th Battalion to the 53rd Battalion and re-allocated number 3598A | |
| 28 Nov 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 53rd Infantry Battalion, In the field | |
| 10 Jan 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 53rd Infantry Battalion, In the field | |
| 13 May 1917: | Involvement Corporal, 3598A, 53rd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3598A awm_unit: 53rd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-05-13 |
Help us honour Stephen Pickering's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of Stephen and Susan Jane Rowe Pickering of Albert Street, Horsnby, NSW; previously of Burdett Street, Hornsby, NSW
24 February 1917 - to hospital in Camiers with Mumps
Medals: British Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Stephen PICKERING (Service Number 3598A) was born on 12th January 1890 at Woonona. Although he had been previously employed casually, the first dated record of his railway service is from 3rd May 1910 when he was working at Murrurundi Locomotive Depot as a cleaner, the first step in the career path to engineman. A year later he had progressed to fireman. In July 1913 he transferred in that same role to Eveleigh. On 28th September 1915 he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces.
Pickering had already enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Show Grounds at Moore Park (Sydney) on 6th September, upgrading his ‘calling’ to be a ‘Loco Engine Driver’. Being unmarried he gave his father, also Stephen, as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 8th Reinforcements to the 17th Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Aeneas’ at Sydney on 20th December 1915.
Once in Egypt he was transferred to the 53rd Battalion at Moascar on 3rd April 1916. After some months further training and the reformation of the Battalions evacuated from Gallipoli, the Australians moved through Alexandria and Marseilles to the Western Front in France. Pickering disembarked at that port city on 28th June.
On 12th June he was slightly wounded but remained on duty. Later in the month he was absent from sick parade and for this crime was punished with seven days confined to barracks.
On 28th November he was promoted to Lance Corporal. In the new year he was sent to a Musketry Course. On his return from this course on 10th January 1917 he was promoted to Corporal.
In mid-February he was sent to the Divisional Infantry School, but after a couple of days there was hospitalised with facial paralysis. He was transferred to the 18th General Hospital at Camiers with suspected mumps and did not re-join his unit until 23rd March.
He was killed in action on 13th May 1917 and buried in the vicinity of Bullecourt. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial in France.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board