Percy George COLEMAN

Badge Number: S24080, Sub Branch: Railways
S24080

COLEMAN, Percy George

Service Number: 1124
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 3rd Pioneer Battalion
Born: Salisbury, South Australia, Australia, 1887
Home Town: Peterborough (Formerly Petersburg), South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Engineer
Died: 12 December 1979, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia
Memorials: Adelaide Grand Masonic Lodge WW1 Honour Board (1), Adelaide South Australian Railways WW1 & WW2 Honour Boards, Nailsworth Primary School Great War Roll of Honour, Peterborough 'LOCO' S.A.R. Roll of Honor, Peterborough St Peter's Anglican Church Roll of Honour WW1, Peterborough War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

6 Jun 1916: Involvement Private, 1124, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: ''
6 Jun 1916: Embarked Private, 1124, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Melbourne
11 Nov 1918: Involvement Private, 1124

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Biography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School

Percy George Coleman was born in 1887 and lived with his family in Salisbury, Adelaide. He worked as an engineer and a Turner, and had two children with his wife, Mrs Ruby Mary Coleman, whom Percy listed as his next of kin on his attestation paper. His religion was the Church of England. Coleman enlisted in the army at the age of 28 in Petersburg (now called Peterborough), South Australia. At the time of his enlistment, Coleman was 5 feet 7 and weighed 140lb (63.5kg). His chest measurement was 32–35 inches; he had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and dark skin.

Coleman embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on 6 June 1916 as part of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion and disembarked on 26 Jul 1916 at Plymouth, England. He proceeded to  France on 24 November 1916 via Southampton. 

While fighting in Messines, Belgium he was injured. Coleman was admitted to the 3rd British Stationary Hospital with a burnt right arm, and according to the official medical note, it was an accidental injury while stoking a furnace in a bathhouse. He was later transferred to the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station on the 22nd to 23rd of June 1917. Then, on the same day, Coleman was transported to the 10th General Hospital in Rouen, France, evacuated to England on board the Hospital Ship Brighton and then was treated at King George Hospital, London, on 29th June 1917. On the 4th of July, he was transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital. Coleman was then granted furlough as “sick leave” from 6th July. He then spent the rest of 1917 convalescing at Depot Weymouth.

Coleman returned to Australia in June 1919 on the Mahia and was discharged on August 10, 1919. 

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