HARRAP, Ernest Merton
| Service Number: | 3327 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 59th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Raglan, Victoria, Australia, 17 December 1894 |
| Home Town: | Willung, Wellington, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 26 September 1917, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Rosedale Shire Honour Roll, Sale Cenotaph, Sale Stradbroke Roll of Honor, Seaspray War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3327, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3327, 7th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3327, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Nestor, Melbourne | |
| 26 Sep 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 3327, 59th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3327 awm_unit: 59th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-09-26 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
James Wilfred Harrap, 24 and his younger Ernest Merton Harrap, 20, both enlisted on the 17 July 1915, in their home town of Rosedale, Gippsland Victoria. The brothers left Australia together in October 1915, as members of the 7th Battalion AIF. In Egypt they both transferred to the 59th Battalion during the reorganising of the AIF. They were both at the Battle of Fromelles as part of the 5th Division. James was badly hit during the battle, suffering shrapnel wounds to the thigh, testicles and back, resulting in him being evacuated to England. He did not rejoin the 59th Battalion at the front until February 1917. Ernest was also wounded in action on the same day, with gunshot wounds to the elbow and left leg, and was also evacuated to England. He did not rejoin the 59th Battalion until April 1917.
James was promoted to Lance Corporal in August 1917, and posted as missing during the attack on Polygon Wood on the 26 September 1917. He was confirmed as killed in action by the Battalion Commander on the 22 March 1918. Ernest was killed by a direct hit from a shell and buried by Sergeant E.V. Eason. The two brothers both served in XXII Platoon, C Company, 59th Battalion, according to reports made by their mates. Both brothers were said to be killed by shell fire, and Ernest was reported as buried quite close to, only a few hundred yards, from the Buttes in Polygon Wood where the Fifth Division Memorial now stands. Neither body was found after the war, thus both are remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial.