TROTTER, Joseph
| Service Number: | 3942 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 October 1915, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney. |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Redfern, New South Wales, Australia, 27 September 1895 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Porter |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 8 May 1917, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3942, 17th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney. | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3942, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3942, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Sydney | |
| 3 May 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 3942, 20th Infantry Battalion, Bullecourt (Second), Wounded in action, with a Gunshot to his left leg. Admitted to the 6th Australian Field Ambulance and then the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station and the Ambulance Train for passage to the 10th General Hospital at Rouen by 4th May. Here the wound was described as a penetrating one to his abdomen and his condition as dangerously ill by 6th May. He died of his wounds on 8th May 1917. | |
| 8 May 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 3942, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3942 awm_unit: 20 Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-05-08 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Joseph Campbell TROTTER, (Service Number 3942) was born on 27th September 1895 at Redfern. He was a probationer in the Traffic Branch in the Sydney District from 26th September 1910 before he became a junior porter on 1st June 1911. He was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces on 18th October 1915.
On the same day Trotter enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park Sydney. He cited three years‘ military experience with the School Cadets. Being unmarried, he nominated his mother, Jemima Trotter, of the Cosmopolitan Hotel, Charles Street Erskineville as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 9th Reinforcements to the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Runic’ at Sydney on 20th January 1916. On 27th March he embarked at Alexandria (Egypt) for passage to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France, passing through Marseilles on 3rd April. He was taken on strength of the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples the next day and the 20th Battalion on 16th May.
He was promoted to Lance Corporal in January 1917. In February he was admitted to the 6th Australian Field Ambulance with trench feet and transferred to the 1st Australian Division Rest Station for a week before returning to the Battalion on 1st March.
Trotter was wounded in action, with a gunshot to his left leg on 3rd May 1917. He was admitted to the 6th Australian Field Ambulance and then the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station and the Ambulance Train for passage to the 10th General Hospital at Rouen by 4th May. Here the wound was described as a penetrating one to his abdomen and his condition as dangerously ill by 6th May. He died of his wounds on 8th May 1917.
Private C G McArthur (5623) reported the circumstances of Trotter’s death:
‘At Bullecourt at 3 a.m. on 3.5.17 they went over the parapet to attack the Germans. At about 6 a.m. all of the officers of the party having been killed, Trotter reorganized (sic) the Platoon and led it against the German trench No. 1. Soon after recommencing the advance Trotter was struck but whether by a shell or bullet I could not say. I did not see Trotter actually struck but saw him soon after being carried away by stretcher bearers. I saw nothing further of him. Trotter was a fine soldier, and had he lived would undoubtedly have been recommended for distinction on account of his skill in re-organising the platoon after had he not been killed.’
Captain R Le G Worsley, Royal Australian Medical Corps, Registrar of No. 10 General Hospital described the medical situation:
‘He was admitted to this Hospital on the 4th May 1917 suffering from a severe Gun Shot Wound to the Left Thigh penetrating Abdomen. His condition was serious from the first and general Peritonitis developed. Two operations were performed, the abdomen being opened and the thigh incised, but he never rallied and died at 4.25 p.m. on the 8th May 1917.
He was buried in the St. Sever Cemetery Extension at Rouen, France.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.