PARSONS, Archibald Lewis
| Service Number: | 25550 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 January 1916, Enlisted at Casula. |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 4th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia., 7 September 1888 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Locomotive Fireman |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 22 August 1917, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
Voormezeele Enclosures No.1 and No.2, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 25550, Enlisted at Casula. | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jul 1916: | Involvement Gunner, 25550, 5th Field Artillery Brigade , Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Jul 1916: | Embarked Gunner, 25550, 5th Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Orsova, Sydney | |
| 22 Aug 1917: | Involvement Gunner, 25550, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 25550 awm_unit: 4th Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1917-08-22 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Archibald Lewis PARSONS (Service Number 25550) was born in Wollongong on 7th September 1888. He joined the NSW Government Railways as a cleaner (first step on the career path of an engineman) in February 1914 at Eveleigh locomotive depot. He was transferred to Hornsby on 1st December 1915. He was working as an acting fireman by this time and had married Rhoda Smith the same year. Rhoda died, aged just 27, at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital at North Sydney on 8th December.
On 31st December he applied to join the AIF and was medically examined at the Sydney Town Hall Recruiting Depot. His enlistment was completed with his attestation at Casula on 21st January 1916.
He embarked from Sydney with reinforcements for the Artillery in July 1916. He landed in England in September. In December hewas sent to France.
He joined a Divisional Ammunition Column at the beginning of January 1917. He was hospitalised with foot trouble two weeks later, and spent several weeks under treatment. In July he was transferred to the 4th Field Artillery Brigade.
On 22nd August 1917 he was killed in action at Hill 60, Zillebeke, Belgium. He was buried in Voormezeele Enclosure No. 1, two miles south of Ypres.
Among the few personal effects sent back to Australia to his next of kin, his sister, were his marriage certificate and a gold ring.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.