Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

James Joseph Cottrell was born on the 5th of June 1898 as the son of Arthur George Cottrell. He had 3 other brothers in the military and was raised in a house at 12 Liverpool Street, North Fitzroy, Victoria where he lived his life as a Roman Catholic. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and a “fresh” complexion. When he was 18 years old and 7 months, weighing 44.9kg, he enlisted to join the military. At this point, he was 5 feet and 4 inches and had an average chest size of 32 inches. During his time of enlistment, he was a single male with no children and worked as a wool spinner. On the 21st of February 1917, he enlisted in the 10th Battalion, and this is when his journey in World War 1 began.

On the 23rd of June 1917, he embarked at Adelaide on the HMAT A30 Borda ship. This ship was originally built for the Pacific & Orient Steam Navigation Company of London. It was leased by the Commonwealth and made 6 voyages from Australia with soldier troops. Two days after Cottrell and other 10th Battalion members arrived in Northern France, the 10th Battalion joined with the 9th, 11th and 13th Battalion to form the 3rd Brigade. During the night the Brigade attempted to take down the guards and outposts of Mailly-Maillet commune and drive the enemy out of Auchonvilliers. During this battle the enemy was strongly holding up the trench system, making it hard for the 3rd Brigade to make much progress. On the 5th of July, Cottrell was sent to the ship’s hospital and began to await his recovery. Cottrell stayed in the hospital for 6 days until he returned to the 10th Battalion. By the time he returned, the battle against the Mailley-Maillet was over and drill and training were continued in Ribemont (another French commune).

6 months later, on the 21st of January 1918, Cottrell was diagnosed with measles. He was sent to the main hospital in Sutton Veny, a village in England. He stayed in the hospital to recover for 5 days before being discharged back to depot.

Cottrell was sent to hospital for the third and final time on the 23rd of June 1918. After 18 days he was still sick and so he was transferred to a “Lines of Communication” Hospital. A “Lines of Communication” Hospital was a military way of referring to a hospital outside of the army, without specifying which hospital, in particular, the soldier was sent to.

On the 27th of July 1918, Cottrell disobeyed orders and did not attend drill. A letter was sent to James’ father stating what had happened and his father responded with a letter in an attempt to not take responsibility for James’ actions. He talked about how James had been ignoring his advice to attend drill and he apologised to the lLeutenant for James’ behaviour. James was given the punishments of 7 days of being “confined to camp”, and 7 days of forfeiting payment. This means that for a week he attended a concentration camp. Here he would have been worked very hard and possibly have gone very long periods without food. He was also given 7 days of forfeiting payment, which means he would have worked for a week without getting paid anything. 

3 months later, on the 3rd of October 1918, he was transferred from the 10th Battalion to the 24th Reinforcement because the 24th Reinforcement needed more soldiers thanks to casualties. In the 24th Reinforcement, Cottrell worked in the Australian Army Veterinary Hospital. Here he would have helped take care of sick and injured horses. 

Cottrell continued with this veterinary role until the end of his time at war. He wasn’t discharged until the 8th of July 1919, 8 months after the war ended. Cottrell was lucky enough to have survived during his time serving in the 10th Battalion and the 24th reinforcement.

Bibliography:

-      https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx

-      https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=63881

-      https://www.army.gov.au/

-      https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search/people

-      https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/AWM4

-      https://www.awm.gov.au/learn/glossary/t