RICHARDS, James Peter
| Service Number: | 1719 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 56th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Pyalong, Victoria, Australia., 4 August 1873 |
| Home Town: | Nubba, Harden, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway fettler (track worker0 |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 6 December 1916, aged 43 years |
| Cemetery: |
Heilly Station Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Tooborac War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 1719, 56th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 1719, 56th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney | |
| 3 Dec 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 1719, 56th Infantry Battalion, Wounds from shell fire to chest, face and arm, fractured leg. Died of his wounds at the 38th casualty Clearing Station on 6th December 1916. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
James Peter RICHARDS (Service Number 1719) was born in Pyalong, Victoria on 4th August 1873. He joined the NSW Government Railways as a labourer on the Southern Division of the Permanent Way Branch in February 1912. In March 1913 he was made a fettler on the line from Junee to Hay. In April 1914 he transferred to the line from Harden to Junee. In December he went back to the line from Junee to Hay. In April 1915 he went back to Harden to Junee.
In February 1916 he was given leave to enlist in the AIF and did so at Cootamundra. He said he was a single man, 35-years-old. In reality, he was 42. His next of kin was an older brother in Victoria.
He was allotted to the 2nd Reinforcements of the 56th Battalion. He was embarked from Sydney in April 1916, landed in Egypt, and was sent in July from there to England, where he landed in August. He was admitted to hospital on 1st September suffering from Influenza, but apparently discharged the same day and sent to a training battalion. In November 1916 he was sent to France, and at the end of that month ‘taken on strength’ by his Battalion.
On 3rd December 1916 he was severely wounded in action: shell wounds to chest, face, arm, fractured left leg.
He died of his wounds at the 38th Casualty Clearing Station on 6th December 1916. He was buried in Heilly Station Cemetery, 2½ miles NNE of Corbie.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.