ENRIGHT, James Edward
| Service Number: | 1258 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 1st Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia, 30 December 1891 |
| Home Town: | Randwick, Randwick, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Locomotive Workshop Fitter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 23 July 1916, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Goulburn District Railway Employees Great War Honour Roll, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Aug 1915: | Involvement Sapper, 1258, 1st Field Company Engineers, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: RMS Persia embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Aug 1915: | Embarked Sapper, 1258, 1st Field Company Engineers, RMS Persia, Melbourne |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
James Edward ENRIGHT, (Service Number 1258) was born on 29 December 1891 at Woollahra. He began his railway career as an apprentice fitter in the Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops. He completed his apprenticeship in August 1913, and while this did not mean automatic employment he obtained a temporary position at Goulburn and this soon became permanent. In February 1915 he joined the Expeditionary Forces. On his Attestation Papers, signed at Liverpool, he claimed 5½ years if apprenticeship and classed himself as an engineer. As he was not married, he gave his mother as next of kin and also claimed three years’ experience with the Militia in the Field Engineers.
Thus, he was allotted to the 1st Field Company of Engineers. He left Australia through Melbourne on RMS ‘Persia’ on 10 August 1915.
He was killed in action by a direct hit from a shell on 23 July 1916.
At first it was thought that his grave was known to be in the Pozières British Cemetery but searching enquiry and investigation did not locate it and he has no known grave and is thus remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in Picardie.
Submitted 28 June 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by John Oakes
James Edward ENRIGHT (Service Number 1258) was born on 29th December 1891 at Woollahra. He began his railway career as an apprentice fitter in the Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops. He completed his apprenticeship in August 1913. He obtained a temporary position at Goulburn and this soon became permanent. In February 1915 he joined the Expeditionary Forces. On his Attestation Papers, signed at Liverpool, he claimed 5½ years of apprenticeship and classed himself as an engineer. As he was not married, he gave his mother as next of kin. He also claimed three years’ experience with the Militia in the Field Engineers.
He was allotted to the 1st Field Company of Engineers. He left Australia from Melbourne on RMS ‘Persia’ on 10th August 1915.
After a bout of Diphtheria in September he embarked at Alexandria for Gallipoli on 19th October 1915. He reported for duty at McKay’s Hill on 25th October. He was again sick on 16th December as the peninsula was evacuated. In March 1916 he went via Alexandria and Marseilles to join the British Expeditionary Force in France. He was killed in action by a direct hit from a shell on 25th July 1916.
At first it was thought that his grave was known to be in the Pozières British Cemetery. However, a searching enquiry and investigation did not locate it. Therefore, he has no known grave and is thus remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in Picardie.
- based on notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
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