Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Ernest Sidney Griffiths (Brother to Edward Reginald Griffiths No 4502)
Enlisted 9 August 1915 – 55th Infantry Battalion – No 2659

Ernie emigrated to Australia with his widowed mother and two younger brothers in 1911, not that much before the war. His mother was very dependent on Ernie as the principal support of the family, so it must have been a shock to her when her 21 year old son decided to enlist a year after the war started at the time of a patriotic push to get reinforcements to the front.
Ernie was a lorry driver, which would come in handy later in France. He originally enlisted at Liverpool and was assigned to the 6th Reinforcement of the 17th Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Division. He had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair and stood 5 foot 5 inches high.
He left Sydney on 2 November 1915 on board the Euripides for the front via Egypt and Marseilles. He was transferred to the 55th Battalion in February 1916 while training in Egypt. The 55th was made up of half Gallipoli veterans from the 3rd Battalion and half new recruits, like Ernie. In July 1916 he was promoted to Driver.
In April 1917 Ernie was charged with being drunk when on active service and given 28 days field punishment, usually involving heavy labouring duties. He had only just arrived back at the front when he was wounded in battle by being stabbed, probably by a bayonet, in the left buttock (the wound was later described as a gunshot wound, perhaps to preserve his dignity). He was taken by ambulance to a clearing station and then transferred to the 14th General Hospital at Wimereux, a French coastal town south of Calais. From here he was sent to the County of Middlesex War Hospital in the London suburb of Napsbury for convalescence.
He rejoined his unit at the front on 2 September 1917. Three weeks later he was wounded again, suffering from a “contusion” evidently caused by a stab wound to the face. He was back in the line a week later.
In the fighting around Villers-Bretonneux the 55th managed to hold their position outside the town even though the town itself fell to the Germans. On 6 April 1918 while still holding their position, Ernie was with a machine gun team facing the German lines when he was hit by an exploding shell and killed instantly. His comrades buried his body near where he died (1,400 yards north of Villers-Bretonneux and 2,450 yards south east of Fouilloy) and erected a cross over his grave. He may have been reburied at the cemetery for the 14th Brigade at Aubiguy but this was only speculated. He remains one of the thousands of missing dead Australians. His name is, however, included in the Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.
The Red Cross took on an obligation to investigate the reports of deaths and missing soldiers because relatives wanted to be sure of what happened to their loved ones. In Ernie’s case they gathered eye witness reports from fellow soldiers that included:
“I was a few yards away in a trench at the left of Villers-Bretonneux when a shell burst burying Griffiths and Corporal Box. They were buried where they were killed.”
“I understood he was killed instantaneously, and then Corporal Archie Box was badly wounded and died almost immediately – a great friend of them both Private Wiggins buried them on the spot that night.”
“I had a talk with Griffiths the previous evening. The Germans were 1,500 yards away. In the afternoon I saw a shell land 50 yards away in a hole where Griffiths was … it was too dangerous to move the wounded till after dark … I knew him well and came with him in the Euripides from Australia … and had been with him ever since.”
Private Pratt, who served with Ernie, described him as “English, I think, about 25, Jewish appearance.” Sergeant Blood described him as “a dark man of about medium height well built and a boxer.” Others commented on his “Jewish nose.” These descriptions were important so relatives could be satisfied it was Ernie.
The Army gathered his belongings (which included two watches, a fountain pen, a bible, letters, photos, razor and strop, cards, belt, badges and holdall) and shipped them to Australia on the captured German transport ship Sumatra (but now renamed the Barunga). The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine in the North Altlantic Ocean and sank on 15 Jul 1918 with the loss of all cargo including Ernie’s belongings. His mother later received a memorial plaque and scroll.

Glendon O'Connor 2015