AVERY, Wilfred Percival
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 December 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | Mining Corps |
| Born: | Mackay, Queensland, Australia, 10 December 1885 |
| Home Town: | Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Brisbane Grammar School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Mining Engineer |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Belgium, 25 April 1917, aged 31 years |
| Cemetery: |
Poperinghe New Military Cemetery Plot I, Row E1, Grave 2 INSCRIPTION - FOR KING & COUNTRY |
| Memorials: | Brisbane Grammar School Memorial Library WW1 Honour Board 1 |
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
On 25th April 1917, whilst engaged in mining operations beneath Hill 60, Captain Wilfred Avery, aged 31, Australian Tunnelling Corps , was killed as he was inserting electrical detonators into a fifty pound box of guncotton, to be used as a primer for one of the explosive charges. Standard practice was to test the electrical continuity of the detonators before insertion; Avery chose not to (some say forgot), intending to test the detonators once in the primer, and, by sheer chance, one of the detonators happened to be faulty, ‘supersensitive’, as they called it, the resulting explosion destroying the dugout in which they were working, killing Avery, two lieutenants and eight sappers, and a proto-man was killed attempting to rescue them. Proto-men, although sounding like something from Doctor Who, were so-called because of the proto-set they used, a self-contained breathing apparatus designed specifically for mine rescue work.
Son of John S. and Elizabeth Avery; husband of M. G. Avery, of Victoria Park Rd., Kelvin Grove, Brisbane.
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