BENHAM, Raymond Alfred
| Service Number: | 2542 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 May 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 46th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Drysdale, Victoria, Australia, 1897 |
| Home Town: | Drysdale, Greater Geelong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Drysdale State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Bullecourt, France, 11 April 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Drysdale Methodist Church Honor Roll, Drysdale State School No 1645 Honor Roll, Drysdale War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 11 May 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2542, 46th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 2542, 46th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Sydney embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 2542, 46th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Sydney, Melbourne | |
| 11 Apr 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2542, 46th Infantry Battalion, Bullecourt (First) |
Raymond's Lament
To Great Uncle Raymond, may you rest peacefully. You will always be in our hearts and remembered with pride and gratitude.
I say a silent prayer to God for courage to help me on my way
But as I look around me, God must be busy or doing something else today
Perhaps he’s listening to someone else who is entering the fray.
So here I go for God, King and Country with my life I’ll have to pay.
After all that I’ve done, experienced, and seen
Could I ever go back to my life the way it had been
Would I sit and think of all the wasteful loss of lives
In unmarked graves interred under foreign skies
It could never be the same although I wish it could be so
This is ‘my’ story because I thought someone should know
No ceremony or bugler to play proudly, ‘The Last Post’.
No silent vigil, mournful tune or marker where I was lost
No time to grieve, or count the cost but wherever my spirit may roam
I know one day, that someone, somehow, will find me and bring me back home.
RIP
Raymond
Submitted 27 October 2023 by Peter Bennett
Biography contributed by Robert Wight
Brother: 1436 Frederick Reuben BENHAM, 7th Battalion, killed in action, near Borre, France, 27 April 1918.
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