COLE, Peter George
| Service Number: | 4550 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 July 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 53rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Byrock, New South Wales, Australia, 1887 |
| Home Town: | Mogriguy, Dubbo Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Taabinga, Queensland, Australia, 12 September 1967, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Taabinga Lawn Cemetery, Kingaroy, Qld |
| Memorials: | Eumungerie - Coboco RSL Memorial, Eumungerie Mogriguy Soldiers WWI Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Jul 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4550, 1st Pioneer Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 4550, 1st Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Oct 1917: | Embarked Private, 4550, 1st Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 10 Apr 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4550, 53rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Sep 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 4550, 53rd Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Peter George Cole was the son of Thomas and Rose Cole, of Mogriguy, New South Wales. Five of his brothers also enlisted in the AIF and embarked for overseas service during WW1.
His brother 2123 Private William Henry Cole was killed at Pozieres on 31 July 1916 and another brother, 2121 Lce. Cpl. John ‘Jack’ Alexander Cole died of wounds in Belgium only five weeks later on 13 September 1916, aged 22.
Two other brothers were sent home with serious wounds and a fifth brother returned to Australia on ‘1914 leave’ during 1918.
Peter enlisted in July 1917 and was given a huge send-off by the people of Mogriguy during September 1917. The Dubbo Dispatch reported “a large crowd assembled to bid farewell to Pte. Peter Cole, the fifth of the family to don khaki. The notice given was decidedly short, and the large attendance spoke well for the esteem in which the folk of Darralume and Mogriguy hold the departing soldier and the fighting family to which he belongs. The Cole family have established a record of which not only Mogriguy and Darralume, but the whole Dubbo district might well be proud, for Private Peter makes the fifth brother to willingly go forth to fight our foes. Of these gallant warrior brothers, two — Billy and Jack— have already made the supreme sacrifice and now sleep in heroes' graves beneath the sky of France.”
Peter arrived in England on Boxing Day 1917. He joined the 53rd Battalion in France during April 1918. He suffered a bomb wound to his left foot on 1 September 1918 and was evacuated to England immediately. He was returned to Australia before Christmas 1918.
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