DENNIS, Samuel
| Service Number: | 5366 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 30 November 1915, Wagga, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 56th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, 14 March 1896 |
| Home Town: | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Cab driver |
| Died: | Natural causes, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia, 10 May 1963, aged 67 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemetery & Crematorium |
| Memorials: | Wagga Wagga Victory Memorial Arch |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Nov 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5366, Wagga, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Apr 1916: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Private, 5366, 13th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' |
|
| 9 Apr 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 5366, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Nestor, Sydney | |
| 9 Oct 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 5366, 56th Infantry Battalion |
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Born at Wagga Wagga on 14 March 1896
Occupation: cab driver at time of his enlistment
Religion: Church of England
Enlistment
Enlisted at Wagga Wagga; joined on 30 November 1915 to serve from 1 December 1915. Aged 19 years, 7 months; 5’9½, 11 stone; fair complexion, grey eyes; dark hair. NOK Mother M.A Dennis, Forsyth Street,Wagga Wagga
While training at Goulburn he was transferred to Liverpool A Company 17/13th Battalion on 31 March 1916.
30 Nov 1915 to 13 March 1916 A Company, Goulburn
22 Feb 1916 – overstaying leave
13 March 1916 to 16 March 1916 transferred to Liverpool A Company 17/13th
31 March 1916 embarked on the Nestor on 9 April 1916
While in Egypt, on 18 May 1916, he was transferred to the 4th division Cyclist Corp Training Battalion. He embarked at Alexandria to join BEF and disembarked at Marseilles in France.
On his arrival in France he was transferred to the 56th Battalion. A month after he arrived, two weeks after he had rejoined 56th Battalion, on 14 September 2016, he was in hospital, suffering severe tonsillitis and scarlet fever and had to be returned to England . He was admitted to 2nd Auxiliary Hospital at Southall. He was discharged on 14 November 1916 and after a two-week furlough he returned to training. On 21 December he proceeded to France and marched into 5th Division Base Depot at Etaples. A week later he was again in hospital with mumps (28 December 1916 to 18 January 1917)
27 Jan 1917 forfeits one days pay for conduct to the prejudice of good order and military disciple
On 7 February 1917 he again re-joined the 56th Battalion. Just over two weeks later he was again in hospital with a frost bitten toe - and again returned to England on 6 March 1917 and admitted to Australian General Hospital at Brighton.
He returned to France on 17 October and rejoined 56th battalion on 26 October 1917. He then spent six months in the trenches until he was wounded in action (gassed at Villers-Bretoneaux) on 25 April 1918. He was invalided to England four days later, suffering from laryngitis from the effects of the gas. He was transferred to Bath Hosptital and then to the first Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield on 8 June 1918. He was discharged to No 2 Command Depot on 27 June 1918. There he committed an offence on 6 July 1918 in that he failed to return to camp at 11.15 p.m. on July and was apprehended by Lt Martin at 11.50 p.m. that night. He was still convalescing from Neurasthenia Melancholic when he was Returned to Australia on the Boonah on 21 July 1918. He disembarked 3rd MD (Vic?) and travelled by train to the 2nd MD. He was discharged as medically unfit on 9 October 1918.
His older brother James Leslie Dennis who had enlisted on 9 November 1916 and served with the 3rd Battalion in France was returned (with a mental illness Dementic Malcox on the same ship.[i]
On his arrival at Wagga Wagga Railway Station at the end of September 1918, Samuel was welcomed by the members of the Soldiers Comfort Fund, the War Chest Red Cross League and the Repatriation Committee.[ii]
Samuel’s youngest brother, Clarence George Dennis, who had enlisted in Wagga Wagga on 17 April 1918 and served in the 34th Battalion was also returning to Australia.[iii]
Post War
Samuel Dennis married Mary Gertrude McGrath, daughter of William McGrath and Annie McGrath nee Finn at St Michael’s Church, Wagga Wagga, on 4 August 1919.[iv] The couple had five children: William, Eileen or ‘Bonnie’ (1919-1927), Norma Kathleen (1921-1992), William (1923-2001) and Molly (1925-1985)
By 1936 the couple had moved to 20 Arden Street, Waverly and Samuel was working as a labourer. By 1942, when his mother, Mary Ann, died, he was living at 10 Creer Street, Randwick where he remained for the remainder of his life and continued to work as a labourer.[v]
Samuel died in May 1963 leaving a widow, Mary Gertrude and children, Norma, William, Molly and Elizabeth.[vi]
[i] NAA, record; plus Daily Advertiser, 31 March 1917, 18 May 1918, 22 June 1918, 15 August 1918.
[ii] Daily Advertiser, 1 October 1918.
[iii] Daily Advertiser, 6 September 1919.
[iv] BDM, 9876/1919; and www.ancestry.com.
[v] Daily Advertiser, 8 June 1942; Australian Electoral Rolls, 1936, 1937, 1943, 1949, 1954, 1958, 1963; Statutory Declaration that he had lost his discharge certificate, Samuel Dennis, WWI record.
[vi] Sydney Morning Herald, 11 May 1963; BDM, 8956/1963.
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