SHEA, James
| Service Numbers: | 13288, 3371 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 February 1916, Goulburn, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 33rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Balmain, New South Wales, Australia, 25 September 1887 |
| Home Town: | Camden, Camden, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Arncliffe Primary School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Railway Employee |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 20 April 1918, aged 30 years |
| Cemetery: |
Namps-au-Val British Cemetery, France II:B:22 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Glebe Roll of Honor, Glebe War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 13288, 33rd Infantry Battalion, Goulburn, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 May 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, 13288, Medically Unfit | |
| 29 May 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 3371, 33rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 16 Jul 1917: | Involvement Private, 3371, 33rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Melbourne embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: '' | |
| 16 Jul 1917: | Embarked Private, 3371, 33rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Melbourne, Sydney | |
| 4 Apr 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3371, Villers-Bretonneux |
Help us honour James Shea's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Dan Molloy
Son of Daniel and Alice SHEA, 18 Arundel Stret, Forest Lodge, Sydney.
Just before dawn on 17 April 1918, the Germans heavily gassed the town of Villers-Bretonneux with the 33rd Battalion incurring 291 casualties including Private Shea. He was transferred by the 55th Field Ambulance (Royal Army Medical Corps) to the 41st Casualty Clearing Station at Namps-au-Val, 35 kms south-west of Villers-Bretonneux, and died of his wounds on 20 April, 1918. His burial service was conducted by the Rev M A But on 22 April, 1918.
Seven other members of the 33rd are buried in this cemetery including 131 Private W P Molloy and 665 Private J W Carpenter, both members of James Shea’s “A” Company who died from wounds received in the gas attacks on 17 and 18 April.
Private Shea’s personal effects were dispatched on the SS Barunga, which was hit by a torpedo from a German submarine 150 miles south west of the Scilly Isles on 15 July 1918. Barunga was on its way to Australia with 800 sick and wounded on board. While all hands were saved before Barunga sank, all cargo was lost.
Reference: Edwards, John 1996, Never a Backward Step: A History of the First 33rd Battalion, AIF, Beetong Books, South Grafton, NSW.
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