CRAIG, James Burnet
| Service Number: | 4780 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 December 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Perth, Scotland, 19 December 1868 |
| Home Town: | Kalgoorlie, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | George Watson's Boys' College, Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Occupation: | Engineer |
| Died: | GSW right leg, France, 17 November 1916, aged 47 years |
| Cemetery: |
Heilly Station Cemetery Plot VI, Row B, Grave No. 2 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Kalgoorlie Boulder 84th Infantry Goldfields Regiment Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4780, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4780, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4780, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Ulysses, Fremantle | |
| 18 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4780, 48th Infantry Battalion | |
| 12 Sep 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 48th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
The son of Mr David Craig of Preston Street East, he was born in Perth Scotland during 1868 and attended George Watson’s Boys College in Edinburgh in 1875. After training as a mechanical engineer with Hawthorn & Co, Leith, Scotland he emigrated, aged 29, to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. He was manager of the Golden Zone Gold Mine. He married Hilda Thornton during 1909 and they had three children in Kalgoorlie.
In December 1915 he joined the AIF, reducing his age by 4 years. He served with the 48th Battalion at Pozieres. He was recommended for a mention in despatches for gallantry at Pozieres but never received it. He was promoted to Corporal soon after. He was wounded in action on 16 November 1916, and died the following day.
A week before his death he wrote a letter home to his wife, ‘We will be going in the trenches again in a few days. I have not been touched so far and perhaps I will have the same luck again and come through all right, but if I don’t, you must try and do the best you can for yourself and the kiddies, like thousands of wives have to do both in France and Australia. I’m not sorry I came. I would never have been happy if I stayed at home, and I would have got impossible to live with, so it’s all for the best and the little I have done will perhaps make up for all my faults and Jim will be able to say that his Daddy fought and died for his country and you will try to forget all my shortcomings and remember only that I loved you and tried to do my best….”
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