SIPPEL, Albert Cornwell
| Service Number: | 4772 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Redfern, New South Wales, Australia , 18 April 1895 |
| Home Town: | Kogarah, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Shop Boy |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 9 March 1917, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Kogarah Pictorial Honour Roll No.1, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4772, 20th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4772, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 13 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4772, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney |
Help us honour Albert Cornwell Sippel's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Albert Cornwell SIPPEL was born on 18th April 1895 at Redfern in Sydney. He grew up and went to school at Kogarah, NSW. He was the second of three sons of Thomas J and Josephine (née Cornwell) Sippel. His mother died in 1898 and his father died in 1908, after having remarried in 1906. His older brother, Harold, was born in 1892, and his younger brother, Leslie Cornwell (Sippel), was born in 1896. He also had a younger half-brother, Thomas J, born in 1909.
Albert joined the NSW Government Railways and Tramways on 17th August 1914 as a shop boy in the Signalling Branch based at Sydney. He remained classified as a shop boy until his 21st birthday on 18th April 1916 when his position was reclassified as labourer. However, before this change, on 1st February 1916, he is recorded as having enlisted in the AIF.
He joined the AIF on 13th January 1916. He was posted to the 12th Reinforcements to 20th Infantry Battalion with the rank of Private (Service Number 4772). He nominated his uncle, Jack Sippel who was living Kogarah, as his next of kin.
He embarked for England aboard HMAT A40 ‘Ceramic’ at Sydney on 14th April 1916. He went to the 5th Training Battalion at Rollestone (England) after he arrived. He left England for France on 9th September 1916 and marched in to the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples on 11th September 1916. He joined the 20th Infantry Battalion on 7th October 1916, about the time the Battalion returned to France after a spell on a quiet section of the front in Belgium.
On 17th November 1916 he was admitted to the 36th Casualty Clearing Station with blistered feet. This was just after the attack near Flers between 14th and 16th November 1916, in which the battalion provided reinforcements. This battle was reportedly undertaken in some of the worst conditions encountered by the AIF. Albert was transferred and admitted to the 12th General Hospital in Rouen on 20th November 1916 before being sent to the 2nd Convalescent Depot on 26th November 1916. On 8th December 1916 he was discharged and marched in to the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples on 10th December 1916.
On 3rd January 1917 he was charged with falling out from a march without permission and failing to report back to camp, the previous day, for which he was penalised 21 days’ Field Punishment No. 1. He marched out to Field Punishment on 3rd January 1917 and returned to the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples on 23rd January 1917. He left to re-join his unit on 25th January 1917 and re-joined on 26th January 1917.
On 9th March 1917 he was killed in action near Bapaume in France.
The site of Albert’s grave is unknown. He is commemorated in the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France. His place of association is Kogarah, Sydney, NSW.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.