COATES, Herbert James
| Service Number: | 2142 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 March 1915, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 6th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Riddell, Vic., 1895 |
| Home Town: | Mickleham, Hume, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Bolinda State School |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Memorials: | Bolinda State School Honour Roll, Mickleham War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2142, 6th Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 2142, 6th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 2142, 6th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Peter Sneddon
Herbert James Coates was born in Riddells Creek in 1895 and Charles Frederick Coates in 1900 in Bolinda to Cyril Herbert Coates and Hannah Mary Scheurer (married 1895), Hannah being one of the infamous Edward Scheurer’s sisters. Hannah, a home maker, and Cyril, a laborer, had nine children: Herbert James (b. 1895), Rosina (Rosie) Victoria (b. 1896), Violet Estella (b. 1898), Charles Frederick (b. 1900), Edward Alex (b. 1902), Eline Mary (b. 1904), Hector (b. 1906), Daphne May (b. 1908), and Idalee Mildred (b. 1913).
Herbert was the first of the brothers to enlist in the armed forces (1915). At that time he was an unmarried labourer. He embarked in June 1915 and saw action in Turkey and France. In May 1916 he was promoted to Driver. He returned to Australia in April 1919 and was discharged in July of that year.
His brother Charles enlisted three years after Herbert. He was working as a blacksmith’s striker at the time. He was sent to France to fight in August 1918 on the “Barambah”. In February 1920, he returned to Australia on the “Megantic”, and was discharged the next month. After his discharge, Herbert returned to working as a labourer. In 1919 he was listed as living in Brunswick with his sister, Violet (machinist). It was recorded in a local newspaper from this time that Herbert was awarded a silver medal by the Royal Humane Society of Australasia though unfortunately it does not elaborate on the reason for the win. By 1922, their parents had moved in along with Charles (working as a blacksmith’s assistant), Violet (home duties) and Rosina (home duties). In the early 1940s, Herbert was living with his mother at a different location in Brunswick and working as a munitions worker. By the late 1940s and into the 1970s, he returned to laboring and was living in Coburg. Herbert mostly lived alone but lived with Ethel May Coates (home duties) in the ate 1960s and early 1970s. There is no record of a marriage between Herbert and Ethel and it is unclear what their connection was. There is, however, a record of a Herbert James Coates marrying a Sarah Robertson in 1954 on the Victoria Births, Deaths and Marriages.