FINN, Cecil Douglas
| Service Number: | 6246 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 June 1916, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Keyneton, South Australia, 10 February 1895 |
| Home Town: | Keyneton, Mid Murray, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Keyneton State School |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Villers-Bretonneux, France, 8 August 1918, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" No known grave - Cecil Finn originally had an isolated grave in the vicinity of Villers-Bretonneux, which was photographed around February, 1919 (see photo). That grave could not later be located. , Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gumeracha Anzac Honor Roll, Keyneton Soldier Memorial Institute and Honour Roll, Tusmore Burnside District Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Jun 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Aug 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 6246, 27th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1 | |
| 28 Aug 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 6246, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Anchises A68, Adelaide | |
| 8 Aug 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 6246, 27th Infantry Battalion, The Battle of Amiens | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 27th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières |
Cecil Douglas Finn
Family Notices
Chronicle, Saturday 16 August 1919.
Finn - In loving memory of Private C.D. Finn, killed in action, August 8, 1918. " Midst the roaring of the battle, the rain of shot and shell; Fighting for King and country, he fell like a hero fell. - Inserted by Stella and Arthur.
Finn - In loving memory of private C.D.Finn, killed in action August 8, 1918. far away from those who loved him, Comrades laid him down to rest; in a hero's grave he's sleeping, One of God's brightest and best - inserted by C.Finn and T.Lloyd, Keyneton.
Submitted 17 October 2023 by christopher collins
Cecil Douglas Finn
Name: Cecil Douglas Finn
Service Number: 6264
Place of Birth: North Rhine / Keyneton
Date of Birth: 24 February 1895
Place of Enlistment: Adelaide
Date of Enlistment: 15 June 1916
Age at Enlistment: 21 years 3 months
Next of Kin: Mother – Caroline Finn
Occupation: Farm Labourer
Religion: Congregational
Rank: Private
Cecil, commonly known as “Tom”, left Adelaide on HMAT A68
Anchises on 28 August 1916 and joined the 27th Battalion AIF upon
disembarcation at Etaples, France on 18 December. Cecil, like his
comrades from his home town, received regular comfort parcels
from the local ladies of the Red Cross Circle established at Keyneton
the year prior.
He was reported as Killed in Action on 5 May 1917. According to
Olga Sophie Rattey’s memoirs, “a month or two later, his mother
received word that he was not killed”. The planned memorial
service joyously became a service of thanksgiving. Private Cecil
Douglas Finn had sustained a gunshot wound to the left knee and
was admitted to hospital in Rouen before evacuation to England and
on to Torquay for rehabilitation. He rejoined his regiment in
Flanders (Belgium) on 3 November 1917 and for the next 9 months
he fought on the Western Front uninterrupted by illness or injury,
Submitted 14 October 2023 by christopher collins
Biography
Surname: FINN; Given Names: Cecil Douglas; Date of Birth: 10 February 1895; Date of Enlistment: 3 June 1916; Trade or Calling: Farmer; Birth Location: Keyneton SA; Address prior to enlistment: Keyneton SA; Photograph sent by: Caroline Finn
Source: State Records SA
Cecil Finn embarked at Adelaide on the 28th of August, 1916 aboard HMAT Anchises (A68) where he sailed to Plymouth in England and diembarked there on the 11th of October, 1916. He then spent the next month training on the Salisbury Plains with the 3rd Training Battalion before joining his battalion - the 27th Battalion - in the trenches in France on the 22nd of December, 1916.
While serving with the 27th Battalion on the Western Front on the 5th of May, 1917 Cecil Finn was reported as Killed in Action on the 3rd of May. This parents back home were notified that was dead. It was found later found out, however, on the 26th of May that Cecil Finn had just been Wounded in Action on the 3rd of May, 1917 and had been taken to 3rd Australian Causality Clearning Station and then the 9th General Hospital with gun shot wounds to his left knee. He was evacuated back to England for further treatment where he stayed for two months.His parents were again notified once he had arrived in England and were overjoyed to hear the news that there only son was still alive. Cecil Finn, after fully recovering, rejoined the 27th Battalion in Belgium, on the 26th of October, 1917.
Then on the 8th of August, the day when the Battle of Amiens began and the great Allied push that would become known as the 'Last Hundred Days" Campagin Cecil Finn was Killed in Action near Villers-Bretonneux. There are no witness statments referings to his death and it is premused that during the battalion adavance he was somehow killed. He was buried in an individual, isolated grave around Villers-Bretonneux. He was aged 23 years old. Then around February 1919 his isolated grave was photographed near Villers-Bretonneux, but when officals came to exhuming the body for rebuial his grave site could not be found. Instead he was given a special memorial cross at the nearby Crucifix Corner Cemetery, just south of Villers-Bretonneux. However, when the National Australian War Memorial was been built the special memorial cross was taken down and as a result his name is now inscribed on the wall at the memorial.
British War medal: 46058
Victory Medal: 45529
Commemorative medallion: 348717
Click images to start slideshow.