PITFIELD, Victor Henry
| Service Number: | 3425 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 August 1915, Place of enlistment - Hunters Hill, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 8th Light Trench Mortar Battery |
| Born: | Feltham, Middlesex, England, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Guildford, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bread carter |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Rouen, France, 3 October 1918, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Bois-Guillaume Communal Cemetery Extension Row F, Grave 16A Headstone Inscription "HE DIED AS HE LIVED NOBLE, UNSELFISH AND BRAVE" , Bois Guillaume Communal Cemetery Extension, Haute-Normandie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3425, Place of enlistment - Hunters Hill, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Oct 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3425, 13th Infantry Battalion, Embarked on HMAT 'A17' Port Lincoln from Sydney on 13th October 1915. | |
| 3 Oct 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Gunner, 3425, 8th Light Trench Mortar Battery, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3425 awm_unit: 8th Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1918-10-03 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
8th Light Trench Mortar Battery, 8th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division.
He was 31 and the son of Jacob Henry and Sophia Pitfield (née Lock) of Jessops, Penshurst, Tonbridge, Kent; husband of Lily Pitfield, of Station Street, Guildford, New South Wales, Australia.
Victor Pitfield was born in Feltham in Middlesex. Birth record not found.
Shown in the 1901 census as a 14 year old living with his parents, sister and grandfather at Palmer’s Farm, Penshurst, where his father was a dairy farmer ‘on his own account’.
The census for 1911 shows the Pitfield and Medhurst families were in Chiddingstone.
The Pitfields were at Jessops Farm and the Medhurst family were at Wellers Town, Chiddingstone.
The 8th Light Trench Mortar Battery, 8th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division, in which Victor was serving, was formed in France in July 1916, and was armed with eight 3 inch Stokes Mortars. Victor embarked on 13 October 1915 from Sydney, Australia on board a Commonwealth & Dominion Line Ltd (London) requisitioned vessel, the 7,243 ton Australian Troopship H.M.A.T. Port Lincoln (A17). On 8 November 1916, having been evacuated from the Western Front, Victor was admitted to St. Anslems Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital at Shorncliffe, Kent, with severe 20 shrapnel wounds to his back and abdominal wall. Almost two years after Victor was again evacuated from the battlefield having suffered more wounds, including a gunshot wound resulting in a compound fracture of the femur and was admitted to Rouen Hospital, France on the 30 September 1918, but he succumbed to his wounds on 3 October 1918.
Rank on enlistment Private.
Unit name on enlistment:13th Battalion, 11th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number 23/30/3
Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on 13 October 1915
Age at embarkation 29
Rank from Nominal Roll Gunner
Unit from Nominal Roll 4th Trench Mortar Brigade
The 8th Light Trench Mortar Battery, 8th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division, in which Victor was serving, was formed in France in July 1916, and was armed with eight 3 inch Stokes Mortars. Victor embarked on 13 October 1915 from Sydney, Australia on board a Commonwealth & Dominion Line Ltd (London) requisitioned vessel, the 7,243 ton Australian Troopship H.M.A.T. Port Lincoln (A17). On 8 November 1916, having been evacuated from the Western Front, Victor was admitted to St. Anslems Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital at Shorncliffe, Kent, with severe 20 shrapnel wounds to his back and abdominal wall. Almost two years after Victor was again evacuated from the battlefield having suffered more wounds, including a gunshot wound resulting in a compound fracture of the femur and was admitted to Rouen Hospital, France on the 30 September 1918, but he succumbed to his wounds on 3 October 1918.
He is commemorated on the war memorial in the nave of the church of St John the Baptist at Penshurst. Also honoured here is Private Reginald John Medhurst [3424-consecutive service number] -11th Battalion, Australian Infantry, A.I.F. who also originated from this part of Kent [born Penshurst] and emigrated to Australia. Reginald was also a casualty of the Great War dying of wounds sustained in battle in 1917-France. They almost certainly knew each other.
He is also commemorated on the Chiddingstone Causeway, Kent, war memorial at St Luke's Church, High Street, Chiddingstone Causeway,Sevenoaks,Kent,TN11 8HT,England.
This is a truncated obelisk on three-stepped base and surrounded by chains. On the face of the obelisk is a wreath and sword and the legend:
TO THOSE WHO DIED FOR US
It was unveiled and dedicated on Sunday 30 July 1922
Attended by General Sir George Fowke and John Harmer Bishop of Rochester.
Maker:Professor Abercromble, Spickett and Co.
Click images to start slideshow.