Ernest John (Jack) COLES

COLES, Ernest John

Service Numbers: 1805, 1805A
Enlisted: 27 April 1916, Blackboy Hill, WA
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 33rd Infantry Battalion
Born: York, WA, 3 January 1894
Home Town: Mundijong, Serpentine-Jarrahdale, Western Australia
Schooling: Mundijong State School
Occupation: Farm Hand
Died: Killed in Action, Messines Ridge, Belgium, 7 June 1917, aged 23 years
Cemetery: No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Buried Battalion Cemetery in Plovegstreet Wood, Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Beverley St Mary's Anglican Church Lynchgate, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Mundijong Honour Roll, Mundijong School Roll of Honour, York District Great War Honour Board, York War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

27 Apr 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1805, 44th Infantry Battalion, Blackboy Hill, WA
9 Aug 1916: Involvement Private, 1805, 44th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Miltiades embarkation_ship_number: A28 public_note: ''
9 Aug 1916: Embarked Private, 1805, 44th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Miltiades, Fremantle
7 Jun 1917: Involvement Private, 1805A, 33rd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1805A awm_unit: 33rd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-06-07

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Biography contributed by Faithe Jones

Son of Jesse COLES and Annie nee ALLCOCK

DEATH OF A YORK BOY AT THE FRONT.
Mr. J. Coles, of Mundijong, and formerly of York has received the following official communication of the death of his son Private E. J. Coles, who was killed in the taking ot Messines Ridge, France on June 7. Private Coles was born in York, and was brother-in-law to Mr. M. T. Ovens. York : —
France, 18/4/17.
My Dear Mr. Coles,— I very much regret that I should have occasion to write to you of the death of your gallant son No. 1805A Ernest John Coles. He was killed in action in the  Battle of Messines, on June 7th. His body was buried in this battalion cemetery in Plovegstreet Wood, and his grave has been registered by the registration unit. I deeply deplore  the death of so excellent a young man ; he was one in whom the utmost resiliance was always placed ; he performed every task and work in a brave and cheerful manner ; in action he invariably showed courage, coolness, and determination, and he was always a good worker. By his disposition he won the affections and esteem of his officers and comrades. We all mourn his death, and the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and men join with me in offering you and your family most heartfelt sympathy in your sad  bereavement,
Yours very truly,
LESLIE MORSHEAD,
Lieutenant Colonel.

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