LITCHFIELD, Ernest Norman
| Service Number: | 282 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1914, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 29 August 1893 |
| Home Town: | Leichhardt, Leichhardt, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Clerk |
| Died: | Suicide, Watsons Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 10 June 1959, aged 65 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemeteries & Crematorium, New South Wales |
| Memorials: | Leichhardt Public School WW1 Supplementary Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sydney, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, 282, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Sergeant, 282, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 23 May 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sergeant, 282, 3rd Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, GSW head | |
| 4 Aug 1915: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Discharged from service on 25 Sep 1916 having lost his right arm at Gallipoli. He later became Vice-President of the "Limbless Soldiers Association", Sydney, NSW. |
|
| 6 Aug 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry Battalion, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli, GSW right arm (severe) - amputated. | |
| 7 Sep 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HT Ascanius, Suez for return to Australia medically unfit - arriving 4 October 1915 | |
| 25 Sep 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
The oldest of five boys (four of whom served in the Great War), amongst six surviving children of nine born to Ernest Daniel Litchfield (1868-1916) and his wife Sarah Ann Heil (1870-1943). The children, at times, had a challenging childhood, with their mother suffering ongoing mental health issues due to the death of her first-born child at seven weeks and their father deserting the family in 1908. Much of their up-bringing was guided by the oldest surviving sibling, only sister Ethel (1891-1984).
Ernest Norman Litchfield (1893-1959) was the first to enlist on 17 August 1914, just 13 days after the declaration of war by Britain against Germany. He was promptly promoted to Sergeant and was part of the landing at Gallipoli with the 3rd Battalion on 25 April 1915. After four weeks on the peninsula Sergeant Litchfield suffered a bullet wound to the left side of the head, requiring his evacuation to Malta.
Returning to Gallipoli in July, Ernest was promoted Second Lieutenant on 4 August 1915 just before the attacks at Lone Pine and The Nek. It was at Lone Pine, between 6 and 8 August that Second Lieutenant Litchfield’s war came to a shuddering halt. The diary of the 3rd Battalion records on the 6th, “….. hung on to the trenches taken against vigorous counter attacks and heavy bombing. Our casualties are unknown but very heavy.” A similar story is detailed over the next two days with an entry on the 8th stating “The enemy kept bombing continuously ……”.
Ernest was one of the many casualties, being severely wounded by a bomb blast that resulted in a compound fracture of the humerus of his right arm. Evacuated from Gallipoli, the injured arm was amputated at the shoulder. After recuperating in the Middle East, he returned to Australia from Suez in the ‘Ascanius’ in October 1915.
Shortly after his return he married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Louisa Guy on 3 February 1916 at the St Pauls, Cleveland Street, Sydney. Ernest returned to his work as a railways clerk and became involved in the Limbless Soldiers Association of NSW. The couple lived at Haberfield and had three children, two boys and a girl.
Their eldest son, NX 60137 Gunner Ernest St Clair Litchfield was accidentally killed in Egypt on 5 April 1941 whilst serving with the 3rd Anti-Tank Regiment of the Royal Australian Artillery. Their daughter, Ethel Florence Litchfield also served during World War II with the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service.
Tragically, Ernest Norman Litchfield took his own life at Watsons Bay in 1959. His wife, Lizzie had predeceased him in 1958.
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