Norman William Gilbert SELTH

SELTH, Norman William Gilbert

Service Number: Officer
Enlisted: 5 November 1915, Adelaide, South Australia
Last Rank: Second Lieutenant
Last Unit: 27th Infantry Battalion
Born: Kent Town, South Australia, 24 August 1896
Home Town: Norwood (SA), South Australia
Schooling: Norwood Public School, South Australia
Occupation: Tailor
Died: Killed in Action, Pozières, France, 4 August 1916, aged 19 years
Cemetery: Courcelette British Cemetery
Memorials: Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Myrtle Bank War Memorial, Norwood Primary School Honour Board, Norwood War Memorial, Payneham Sydenham Road Methodist Church Roll of Honour
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World War 1 Service

5 Nov 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, Adelaide, South Australia
7 Feb 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 27th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Miltiades embarkation_ship_number: A28 public_note: ''
7 Feb 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Miltiades, Adelaide
4 Aug 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 27th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 27 Battalion awm_rank: Second Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1916-08-04

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Biography

Norman Selth, was born on the 24 August 1896 in Norwood, South Australia. His parents were Lucy and George Henry Selth. His next of kin was his father, who lived at 59 Beulah Road in Norwood Adelaide South Australia. The fate of his mother remains unknown. He studied in a public school in Norwood and followed the Church of England. Before he became a soldier he worked as a tailor. Norman was single and twenty years old.

 He enlisted to war on the 16th of December 1915, in Kent Town, South Australia. Previously he had served in the cadets and citizen military forces. On the 7th of Feb 1916 he was involved in the AIF WW1, 27th Infantry Battalion, fighting at Pozieres/Mouquet Farm.

On the 4th of Aug 1916 he was involved in the AIF WW1, 27th Infantry Battalion, in the Pozieres/Mouquet Farm fighting again. He was ranked as 2nd Lieutenant/Honorary Lieutenant in the 27th Battalion, 9th reinforcement.

 The Ninth Reinforcements was a branch of the 27th Battalion which departed Adelaide on the 7th of February 1916. Selth’s unit embarked from Adelaide on board the ship HMAT A28 Miltiades. Each of the Battalions were divided into colours. The colour and the shape of a patch denoted the division or service.

 The lower colour indicated the Brigade. In this case light blue showed the 27th Battalion was one of the Battalions in the 7 Brigade. And the brown and blue diamond colour patch represented the 27th Battalion as the third of the 7 Brigade, second division.

In the first AIF there were 4 Infantry Battalions in each Brigade and the upper patch identified each one. The colours for each were: Black for the first, purple the second, brown the third, white the fourth, and so on.

Unfortunately, Norman was killed in action on the fourth of August 1916 during the Battle of Pozieres, Somme sector in France. He died at the young age of 20 and was buried in the Courcelette British cemetery in France. The location of the grave is in plot 2 row b grave number 13. He was added on the role of honour number 111 in the Australian War Memorial. He fought bravely in the Western Front and won the British medal and the Victory medal.

Selth was one of the many soldiers lost in battle fighting bravely for their country and should be honoured and remembered as heroes. 

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