S16301
MERCHANT, Horace Edward
| Service Number: | 3544 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Memorials: | Port Lincoln & District Honor Roll WW1, Port Lincoln Big Swamp Methodist Church Honour Roll, Uraidla & Districts Roll of Honour 2 |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3544, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3544, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Private, 3544, 10th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Horace Edward Merchant's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Horace Edward Merchant is a man who was born in 1897 at Summertown in the Adelaide Hills. At some point his family moved to Port Lincoln, South Australia. His next of kin was his mother, Mary Merchant. He stated that his occupation was a farmer on his attestation paper when enlisting. He was a Methodist and single, with no wife, or any girlfriend that we know of. He was 5 feet four in height, and weighed 114 lbs/57 kilograms, he had light fair hair, and blue eyes. His chest measurements were 34 inches/86 centimetres wide. Horace had also undergone the inoculations of smallpox and enteric fever. He had some experience in the Army with some service before enlisting in WW1.
Horace Edward Merchant enlisted for the war on the 31st of August 1915, in South Australia, he then embarked on the 12th of January 1916, on the HMAT A30 Borda. His rank once he enlisted was a private. His unit from the nominal roll was the 10th Battalion, which he transferred to from the 27th Battalion on the 20th February 1916, he was part of the 8th reinforcement.
Horace was wounded on the 23rd July 1916, on the first day of the Battle of Pozieres. He received a gunshot wound to both his left arm and left knee. He was transferred to hospital in England on the 6th September 1916. He was ultimately sent home on the 12th November 1916, due to being medically unfit. He was discharged on 24th April 1917.
He went on to marry and have children, at least four children, two sons and two daughters. He remained in the Port Lincoln area for the remainder of his life. His second daughter Violet Nellie’s was married in November 1937. His eldest son Kenneth William married in November 1946, followed by his youngest son Reginald in 1947.
Horace died in 1975 at the age of 78 and was buried at the Port Lincoln, Happy Valley cemetery.