HAM, Walter Percival
| Service Numbers: | 2528, 2473 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 February 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 58th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 15 December 1894 |
| Home Town: | Mosman, Municipality of Mosman, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Randwick, New South Wales, Australia, 3 June 1949, aged 54 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Botany General Cemetery, New South Wales |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2528, 6th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Jul 1915: | Embarked Private, 2528, 6th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Demosthenes, Melbourne | |
| 16 Jul 1915: | Involvement Private, 2528, 6th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
| 25 May 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 29th Infantry Battalion | |
| 19 Mar 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2473, 29th Infantry Battalion, German Spring Offensive 1918, SW chest | |
| 2 Dec 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 58th Infantry Battalion | |
| 9 Jul 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2528, 58th Infantry Battalion, 2nd MD |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Daryl Jones
Born in Sydney, NSW, in 1895, Ham was working as a clerk in Victoria when he enlisted in the AIF at Seymour on 4 April 1915. After training at Broadmeadows, including specialist signals training, he was assigned the service number 2528 and posted as a private to the 7th Reinforcements, 6th Battalion, AIF. Ham left Australia for Egypt aboard HMAT A64 Demosthenes, on 16 July 1915. By the time he had completed further training in Egypt, the 6th Battalion, which he had been due to join on Gallipoli, had been withdrawn to Lemnos for three weeks' rest after the Battle of Lone Pine. Ham became ill in Egypt and was repatriated to Australia medically unfit on 25 September 1915, aboard HMAT Ceramic. By the time he reached Melbourne he was so far recovered that he was found fit for duty on 22 October and permitted to re-enlist. Sent to Broadmeadows once again for training, Ham was assigned a new service number, 2473, and posted to the 4th Reinforcements, 29th Battalion. He sailed from Melbourne aboard HMAT Anchises on 14 March 1916. Ham was given leave while the ship took on fuel and supplies at Colombo but, together with four other members of his unit, failed to reboard the troopship when it embarked for Egypt. The men completed their journey to Egypt aboard HMAT Orsova, and then moved on to France, arriving on 23 June. Ham served as a battalion runner during his service on the Western Front. In May 1917 he was hospitalised for three weeks after accidentally scalding his feet. His battalion's major action in 1917 was at Polygon Wood in Belgium, in September. On 9 March 1918 he received a severe shrapnel wound to his chest. Treated initially by the 15th Field Ambulance, and then at the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station, Ham was evacuated to Horton War Hospital at Epsom, England. Some of the shrapnel had been deflected by this tobacco tin which Ham had been carrying in his breast pocket when he was wounded. He was judged to be out of danger a month later and had recovered fully by 17 June when he was posted to the 5th Division Signal School. Ham remained in England until the end of the war, when he was transferred to the 58th Battalion, after 29 Battalion had been disbanded in France. He returned to Australia on 28 March 1919. Ham retained the damaged tobacco tin as a reminder of his lucky escape and kept his medals in the tin after the war
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