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ATWILL, Thomas Alfred
Service Number: | 299 |
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Enlisted: | 22 August 1914, Morphettville, South Australia |
Last Rank: | Private |
Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
Born: | Dover, England, United Kingdom, 5 April 1875 |
Home Town: | Broken Hill, Broken Hill Municipality, New South Wales |
Schooling: | Cardiff Higher Educatioin |
Occupation: | Miner - Labourer |
Died: | Killed in Action, Gaba Tepe, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 19 May 1915, aged 40 years |
Cemetery: |
Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli His name is located at panel 58 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT. Grave III D. 25. INSCRIPTION ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO HIM O LORD MOTHER , Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Broken Hill Barrier District Roll of Honour, Broken Hill War Memorial, Broken Hill Zinc Corporation Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
22 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Morphettville, South Australia | |
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20 Oct 1914: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Private, 299, 10th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' |
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20 Oct 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 299, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Adelaide | |
25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
Date unknown: | Involvement 10th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières |
Help us honour Thomas Alfred Atwill's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Thomas Hyde Atwill, his father, was a gunnery Sergeant born in Meavy, Devon. Thomas and Sarah Helen Atwill [nee Garrard]were married in Canada (she was American but had been given British citizenship). They had a total of nine children including the three soldier sons on the Walkhampton War Memorial. Another son, William emigrated from the UK to Australia prior to the outbreak of World War 1 to try his hand at gold-mining. He took two of his brothers with him – Percy and Thomas. All three joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force at the beginning of war in 1914 and were shipped out to the Dardanelles.
Private Percy Gerard Atwill service number 1508A , was with the 13th Battalion, Australian Infantry . Brother Private Leslie Hyde Atwill, Service Number 57203 was only eight when his brothers decided to go to Australia to search for gold. He joined the 1/7 Army Cycle Corps attached to the Welsh Regiment. Apparently he suffered from asthma and should never have been drafted into the army. He was wounded and died of pneumonia in hospital on 30 January 1917, aged 24. He is buried at Mendinghem Military Cemetery, Belgium.
All three Atwill casualties are honoured together on the Walkhampton War Memorial.
William service number 1507, served with the Light Trench Mortar Battery and 3rd Reinforcements, 13th Battalion, won the Military Medal, and survived the war and was shipped back to England. The family were living at Upland Cottage, Dousland, back in Devon in 1911, but later at 7, Richmond Crescent, Cardiff, South Wales by which time Sarah was a widow.
Biography
ACTUAL name (provided by mother) - THOMAS ALFRED ATWILL
On enlisting he stated his father as:
Thomas Atwell, living at Dousland, Yelverton, South Lennon, England
Mother Sarah H Attwill, living at 7 Richmond Crescent, Cardiff, Wales, England
Previous Service:
8 years - Served as a Territorial Soldier in RGA, England (Glenmorgan Volunteers Artillery)
Prior to enlisting he lived in Gosson & Blend Streets, Broken Hill, New South Wales.
Described on enlisting as 36 years old; single; 5' 9" tall; 142 lbs; dark complexion;
blue eyes; dark brown hair; Roman Catholic
22/8/1914 Enlisted in Morphettville
completed medical - fit for service
Commanding Officer appointed Thomas to H Company,
Morphettville Camp
20/10/1914 Embarked from Outer Harbour, Port Adelaide on board HMAT Ascanius A11
as a Private in H Company, 10th Battalion
2/3/1915 Embarked on board Ionian to join Mediterranean Expeditionary Force
in Gallipoli
19/5/1915 Killed in action, Dardanelles, Gallipoli
buried by: Chaplain J C McPhee
buried in: Divisional Cemetery, Shrapnel Gully, Gallipoli
later buried in: Shrapnel Valley Cemetery
Plot _____
Medals:
1914-15 Star (4036); British War medal (4543); Victory medal (4542)
Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll (30575)
Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan. 23/2/2015. Lest we forget.