ROUGHLEY, James Thomas
| Service Number: | 3384 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 November 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 40th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Railton, Tasmania, Australia, 28 August 1889 |
| Home Town: | Devonport, Devonport, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 28 March 1918, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
Heilly Station Cemetery Plot VII, Row A, Grave No. 47. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Devonport Cenotaph, Kentish Municipality Honour Roll Mural, RailtonM1, Sheffield War Memorial, Ulverstone East Devonport 'Unknown' Tasmania's Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Nov 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3384, 40th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Jun 1917: | Involvement Private, 3384, 40th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 14 Jun 1917: | Embarked Private, 3384, 40th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
James Roughley was one of five brothers from Devonport in Tasmania to enlist in the AIF and serve overseas. Three of the brothers lost their lives during the war. They were the sons of Henry Asher Roughley and the late Jane Roughley of Devonport. Their mother had passed away during 1910.
James enlisted in late 1916 but he only joined the 40th Battalion in France only two months before his death.
On 28 March 1918 the 40th Battalion made a small advance but the unit lost 34 men killed in heavy fighting.
In the Red Cross wounded and missing file of Arthur Bonser of the 40th Battalion, a mate reported, “He was buried by a shell at Heilly near Mericourt at about 4pm on the 28 March, with three other men, Ptes. J.Roughly, and Jack Collins of both of D Company 13th Platoon and H.Briggs of C Company. I came up about a quarter of an hour after it happened and they had not been dug up but the bodies were recovered the same night. They had all been killed outright. They were buried the next day close by the church of Heilly.”
All four men are buried in the same row in the Heilly Station Cemetery.
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