CRANE, Hector Philip
| Service Numbers: | 2339, 2339A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 55th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Wyong, New South Wales, Australia, March 1892 |
| Home Town: | Wyong, Wyong Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 16 March 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Tuggerah Public School Great War Honour Roll, Wyong War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Jul 1915: | Involvement Private, 2339, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Jul 1915: | Embarked Private, 2339, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Orsova, Sydney | |
| 16 Mar 1917: | Involvement Private, 2339A, 55th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2339A awm_unit: 55th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-03-16 |
Help us honour Hector Philip Crane's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Hector Philip CRANE, (Service Number 2339A) was probably employed as purely extra staff on the Waterfall to Otford deviation works in December 1914, He had been born at Wyong about March 1892. At the time of his enlistment in May 1915 he was not married, and described himself as a labourer, as would be appropriate if he had been working on constructing a railway deviation. He had three years’ previous military experience.
He left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Orsova’ on 14th July 1915 and reached Egypt in time to serve in the 3rd Battalion in the last few weeks of the Gallipoli campaign from October 1915.
He was evacuated to Egypt in December. Thenhe was transferred to the 55th Battalion and travelled via Alexandria to reach Marseille (France) in June. He had two weeks leave in December 1916. He died when he was buried by an exploding shell which collapsed the dug-out that he was in. Although he was alive when he was extricated and carried to a casualty clearing station, his injuries were so bad that he succumbed to them on 16th March 1917.
He was buried at Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, Picardie, France.
Hector Philip Crane’s brother, Robert George Crane also died on active service in the Great War.
- based on notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board