KNOCKAERT, Cyrille
| Service Number: | 3191 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 August 1915, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Nieuwpoort, West Flanders, Belgium, 20 November 1893 |
| Home Town: | Port Pirie, Port Pirie City and Dists, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Died of Wounds - Battle of Amiens, Vignacourt, Somme, France, 11 August 1918, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
Vignacourt British Cemetery, Picardie Plot V, Row D, Grave no. 12, Vignacourt British Cemetery, Vignacourt, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Port Pirie Oval WW1 Memorial Gates, Port Pirie Presbyterian Church Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jan 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3191, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
| 12 Jan 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3191, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Medic, Adelaide | |
| 11 Aug 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3191, 27th Infantry Battalion, "The Last Hundred Days" |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From François Berthout, Australia and New Zealand in WWI
Today, it is with very deep respect that I come to commemorate the memory of one of my boys of the Somme, I would like, with gratitude, to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 3191 Cyrille Knockaert who fought in the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion and who died of his wounds 102 years ago on August 10, 1918 at the age of 24 on the Somme front.
Cyrille Knockaert was born on November 20, 1893 in Nieuwpoort, West Flanders, Belgium and he lived in Ostende, Belgium, he was the son of Cyrillus Pamphilus Knockaert and Bertha Catharine Denolf. His parents were still living in Belgium when Cyrille arrived in Port Pirie , South Australia on 18th July, 1911 from San Francisco.His occupation in 1915 was a Seaman and he also worked in Smelting Work, he was naturalized in 1915 and lived in Port Pirie and was single.
Enlisted on August 6, 1915 in Adelaide, South Australia, in the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion, 7th Reinforcement, he embarked with his unit from Adelaide, on board HMAT A7 Medic on January 12, 1916 and sailed for France where he arrived on March 27, 1916 in Marseilles and joined the trenches of the Somme a month later, on April 23 and was wounded a first time in the arm by a machine gun bullet on November 5, 1916 and was evacuated in Rouen and admitted to the 26th General Hospital to be healed of his wounds.
After recovering from his wounds, Cyrille was sent back with his battalion to the Somme on December 12, 1917.Sadly, eight months later, on August 9, 1918, during the battle of Amiens, Cyrille was seriously wounded and was evacuated in Vignacourt, Somme, where he died the next day, on August 10, 1918 at the age of 24.
Today, Cyrille Knockaert rests in peace alongside his comrades, friends and brothers in arms at Vignacourt British Cemetery, Somme.
Cyrille, sir, it is with a great honor that I bow in front of you, to thank you very respectfully with a heart full of gratitude for all that you have done for us, from Belgium to Australia then to the soils of the Somme in France, you have traveled the world to enlist with your Australian brothers, under the rising sun, answered courageously to the call of duty and walking through uncertain days through fury battlefields and the dark mud of the trenches, blackened with ashes and reddened with the blood of your comrades who fell near you in heroic assaults that the machine guns mowed down at the dawn of their lives and their youth.many ended their steps in the barbed wire, men who had a life ahead of them, families whose hearts were broken and who hoped for the return of their sons, their brothers, their fathers, their husbands, who together fought under the banner of Australia with the greatest bravery, they fought for their country, for their families, for the man who was next to them, they fought like a united family, through the battlefields, until their last breaths for just and noble causes which they had in their hearts, they fought for peace, for justice, for humanity, for better days under the sun of a world at peace.For all these courageous young men who, like you, gave their all, I would be eternally grateful to you, you have walked and traveled hundreds of kilometers from Australia to fight and serve with the greatest courage for France, these lands of the Somme are yours today and the Australian flag flies today with pride, the French people will never forget, that here millions of young men, proud and brave fell for us and I would always walk through the rows of your white graves with the greatest respect to take care of your memory and the history of each of you, I will always protect your graves and your inheritance, I will always be entirely devoted to you so that none of you will ever be forgotten and it is with all my heart, Cyrille, that I say thank you, you will never be forgotten.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.🌺
Biography
Cyrille KNOCKAERT was born on 20th November 1893 in Nieuwpoort, West Flanders, Belgium - He was a native of Belgium and had no relatives in Australia
His parents were Cyrillus Pamphilus KNOCKAERT and Bertha Catharine DENOLF - His mother remarried to a BREYNE - his parents were still living in Belgium when Cyrille arrived in Port Pirie, South Australia on 18th July, 1911 from San Francisco - His occupation in 1915 was a Seaman & he also worked in Smelting Works - he was naturalized in 1915
Cyrille was living in Port Pirie West, South Australia when he enlisted with the Australian Army on 6th August, 1915 - he was with the 27th Battalion, 7th reinforcements - Unit embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Medic on 12th January, 1916
He died from wounds on 11th August, 1918 in the Battle of Amiens and is buried in Vignacourt Briish Cemetery - he is also commemorated on the Australian War Memorial and also on the Presbyterian Church Roll of Honour in Port Pirie National Trust Museum. - he was awarded the British War Medal & the Victory Medal
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