BASSHAM, Raymond Herbert
| Service Number: | 2680 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 September 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | Army Pay Corps (AIF) |
| Born: | Freebridge Lynn, Norfolk, England, 1889 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Corporal, 2680, 2nd Depot Unit of Supply, 11th Army Service Corps | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 2680, 2nd Depot Unit of Supply, 11th Army Service Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Jul 1918: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
| 13 Mar 1920: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, Army Pay Corps (AIF) |
Help us honour Raymond Herbert Bassham's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was one of four Bassham brothers who served in the Great War; one of these, Second Lieutenant Reginald Owen Bassham served with the 5th Rifle Brigade and was Killed in Action in France 31 May 1917. Buried in Tilloy British Cemetery, Tilloy les Mofflaines, Grave I.G.23. Born at Wolferton, Norfolk 13 August 1893, the son of Luke and Ellen Bassham. His father was an accountant at Sandringham Estate. His mother lived at York Avenue, Hunstanton. Married to Dorothy Gwendoline Smithard just a few weeks before he was killed. Dorothy remarried in 1921.
He won scholarships that enabled him to be educated at King Edward's School, King's Lynn, and subsequently at University College, London, where he was a member of the O.T.C.
He left for Australia in 1912 and worked on his brother-in-law's estate. He tried to enlist in the Australian Army but was rejected due to defective eyesight,
He returned from Noumea, New Caledonia, to the UK to enlist, 21 September 1915, travelling on the SS Canastota. However a blockade of the Panama Canal meant that he had to travel from Panama to Boulogne on the SS Niagara. This journey generated a lot of correspondence as he claimed back the travelling expense from the War Office.
Attested at the Central Recruit Depot, Whitehall, 6 December1915 and posted to the Rifle Brigade Depot, service number S/14556. Posted to the 6th Battalion and applied for a commission. Posted to No. 2 Officer Cadet Battalion, Pembroke College. Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, Special Reserve, 5th Rifle Brigade, on 4 July 1916 (London Gazette 7 July 1916).
Posted to France. Received severe shell wound to left thigh and sent to No.1 Red Cross Hospital, Le Touquet, 9 November 1916, before being sent to Guy's Hospital, London. Joined 13th Battalion on 3 May 1917. Several of his effects were returned to the UK, including his tobacco pouch, his broken pipe and his marriage certificate.
His service papers are at the National Archive (WO339/74565).
He is remembered on the All Saints Church, South Lynn, Memorial Window, and King Edward's School War Memorial, King's Lynn.
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Births Sep 1889 Bassham Raymond Herbert Freebridge L. 4b 327
The district Freebridge L. is an alternative name for Freebridge Lynn and it is in the county of Norfolk
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