HEMPEL, Arthur Ernest
| Service Number: | 1025 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, February 1892 |
| Home Town: | Bendigo, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bookseller |
| Memorials: | Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Sep 1914: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Lance Corporal, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Mar 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, GSW left wrist & hip. | |
| 16 Mar 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion, Formally discharged from AIF. Was previously transferred to Royal Flying Corps 14 November 1916 for training and was later granted a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the RFC. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
21 October 1917, 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Ernest Hempel of 84 Squadron RFC was shot down and captured in Belgium, behind the German lines near Passchaendale. According to the book “Under the Guns of the German Aces” by Norman Franks, Hempel’s SE.5a fighter was shot down by the infamous Lt. Hermann Goring of Jasta 27, his 15th victory.
Hempel, of Malvern Victoria, was an original member of the 7th Battalion AIF, and had sailed with the first force in 1914. He was in action at the Landing 25 April 1915, but suffered gunshot wounds to the left wrist and hip on that first day, and was evacuated to England. In England during December he had an accident on a motorcycle, and was in a coma for 10 days, suffering concussion to the brain, a fractured skull and a broken collar bone. Upon his recovery, he then joined the RFC. He returned home safely after the war and served in the RAAF for many years.
He served in the RAF until returning to Australia in 1923. According to a newspaper report in 1935, “An R.A.A.F. seaplane, under the command of Squadron Leader A. Ë. Hempel, which has been engaged in a round-Australia survey flight, arrived at Port Adelaide from Port Lincoln today. Squadron-Leader Hempel is completing a journey which has lasted nearly seven months.”