DAWE, James
| Service Number: | 779 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 February 1916, He began as a private, but was later promoted to Lance corporal. |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 43rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Moonta, South Australia, May 1875 |
| Home Town: | Dulwich, Burnside, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 779, 43rd Infantry Battalion, He began as a private, but was later promoted to Lance corporal. | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 779, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 779, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide | |
| 2 Feb 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 43rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 25 Apr 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, 779, 43rd Infantry Battalion, Was discharged for being medically unfit, due to illness and a G.S.W to his elbow. | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 779, 43rd Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Life before the war:
James Dawe, at the time of his enlistment, in the Adelaide city, was 40 years and 9 months old. This meant Dawe was on the older end of people who served in the field, but he was able to do so at a high fitness level, most likely due to his work as a Labourer. He had originally been born in Moonta, South Australia, but later moved to Victoria Park, South Australia, with his wife, Livinia Dawe, and the two later had children, yet how many, their names or any other information regarding them couldn’t be found. He had no previous military service that was listed and wasn’t involved in Gallipoli.
Service life:
James Dawe began his journey as an AIF soldier in Egypt, where the first training would commence. This was where, many soldiers second-guessed their decision, as they would have to endure the extreme conditions of sandstorms and both extreme cold and heat. Once completed, the trainees were sent to England for final training. From there, the 43rd battalion with James Dawe boarded the HMAT Afric A19 for their journey to the action, France on the 25th of November 1916.
Dawe was promoted to Lance Corporal on the 2nd of February 1917. On the 23rd of March 1917, was the first time Dawe had left the war due to illness, and only several months after and not long after his return, he was wounded in a battle that lasted less than a day and had no documented name. During this battle though, he had sustained a G.S.W to his elbow, which could have been either shrapnel or a gunshot but would have been a horrible injury either way. Not only would his involvement in the war from then on be altered, and he would have to miss an extended period of time, but he would have carried on some sort of permanent damage in that arm, which likely would have changed the way he was after the war as well.
In the days after the injury, Dawe was transferred to England, and to King George hospital. From there, he was transferred to 3rd AUX. hospital, the 3rd Auxiliary hospital, where he continued his recovery. And it wasn’t until the 17th of October 1917 that he traveled back to France to rejoin his battalion.
He finally rejoined the 43rd battalion on the 3rd of November 1917. Yet, on the 22nd of December 1917, he was once again admitted to hospital sick. He then again, transferred back to England, and recovered there, before he was discharged from London on the 25th of April 1918, and was sent home to Australia after being classified as “medically unfit”. No details are known of his later life.
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