Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

James Clive Lewis was born in 1891. His life began in Gympie, a city in Queensland where he lived with his parents, brother, and sister in their family home on Roma Street. James was brought up as a Christian and was a follower of the Church of England. In 1904, when James was 13, his mother died. From then on, James’ next of kin was listed as his father, John Lewis. However, after the completion of his service in the World War One, James changed his next of kin to Ms. E Crouch, his relation to her unknown. Unmarried, Lewis was living at 43 Stepney Street in St Peters, South Australia, and worked as a Labourer prior to enlisting.   

As a labourer, James would have worked long hours and must have had a good level of physical fitness to perform a range of manual jobs. Some examples of work he may have completed daily was digging trenches, building structures, carpentry, and laying foundations. Along with physical ability, Lewis would have needed basic literacy and numeracy knowledge to take measurements and understand drawings and technical plans.

James enlisted as a soldier of the Australian Imperial Force in Adelaide on the 28th of September 1916 and was 25 years old at the time. He travelled from Queensland to Adelaide, South Australia to the enlistment site. On the 29th, he underwent the standard medical examination with his details and physical description being recorded. Lewis was described to be fairly short, only 5 foot 4. He weighed 135 pounds and had a medium complexion with grey eyes and brown hair.

As he had no previous experience in serving in the military, James was assigned to the rank of Private in the 23rd Reinforcement of the 10th Infantry Battalion. Being an infantry soldier, James would have been prepared to fight on foot rather than in tanks or on horses. James’ reason for enlisting was not disclosed. However, it can be assumed that he signed up to fight for his country and felt a sense of duty as a young, able Australian male. His decision to enlist could also have been impacted by the fact that he had a younger sister; he may have felt a responsibility to keep her safe by serving his country.

James embarked with his unit from Adelaide on the HMAT A35 Berrima, an Australian troop transport ship, on the 16th of December 1916. After 2 long months of travelling by sea, James disembarked with his unit in Devonport, Tasmania on the 16 of February 1917. 2 days later, the entire Battalion was marched in from Devonport to England.

There, James stayed with his unit in the 3rd Training Group where they camped at the 3rd Camp in Durrington, England. But soon after, Lewis fell seriously ill while training. On the 22 of February 1917, he was taken to the Fargo Military Hospital in Salisbury Plain and was diagnosed with severe Broncho Pneumonia. After his recovery, James was quickly discharged to the Infantry Base Depot, a centre where reinforcements are collected, sorted, and dispatched to units in the field. He re-joined his Battalion but fell ill again in the next few months, contracting scabies and bronchitis in succession.

On the 14th of June, Lewis proceeded overseas to France. He was extracted from the 3rd Training Battalion Camp in Durrington via Southampton and was Taken on Strength in July that same year. This meant he had joined a new unit in the 10th Battalion and left the reinforcement units. James arrived in Le Havre in Normandy, France, on the 6th and served with his unit until, in November, he fell sick again. After leaving for the hospital and having around a fortnight of recovery, he re-joined his unit yet again.

During his 3 years of service, James was found to be absent without leave on multiple occasions. This means he abandoned his unit without being granted permission by his commanding officer to do so. The first example of this was the 2nd of December 1917 when James deserted His Majesty’s service whilst in France. He was found over a month later, apprehended at 9:30 am on the 14th of February 1918 in a disused mill at Arringues by the Military Police. James was sentenced to 90 days of field punishment No.2 while awaiting his trial. Field punishment, or penal service, was given to soldiers for any offence committed on active service. The second variation that James was sentenced to consisted of performing labouring duties while being restrained in handcuffs.

Conclusively, the trial decided that James was deemed guilty of being absent without leave, and on the 17th of September, Lewis was sentenced to more than 6 months (203 days) in prison, the location of which is unknown. In addition, he was forfeited pay for the duration of his sentence. However, it is most likely that James did not complete his sentence as he was discharged to duty in March, which was only 2 months after his trial.

James, along with the 10th Battalion, joined the Australian Corps in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, a French port that the British had chosen as their base in 1914 due to its close proximity to the coast of England. He soon fell ill with pyrexia of unknown origin, which meant he had a fever-inducing illness that the hospital was unable to diagnose. So, he was sent back after two days of exiting the Corps and being admitted to Fargo Hospital. After fighting in Boulogne with the 10th Battalion for another 4 months, James went AWL once again and again, was apprehended.

During the next 10 months, Private James Lewis was admitted to the 7th Military Prison in Vendroux Les Attaques, after being sentenced to 5 years of penal service. However, James was not required to complete his sentence and was released from prison on the 29th of April 1919. In the end, the Military authorities decided to remit the remainder of his sentence and he was sent on a train to the Le Havre Camp. James embarked less than a month later to England, and from there he returned to Port Darwin, Australia. He underwent a medical report in July and was deemed fit with a normal condition and urine scars, proof of the injuries he had sustained while fighting. It is presumed that James was discharged from the Military Forces soon after, his service as a soldier completed.

The copious number of illnesses James sustained during the war is evidence of the harshness of the environment which he must have endured. James had little time to recover in the hospitals as he was often sent back to the battlefields just days after being admitted. Yet, during his service, James fought through these periods of sickness while having little to no communication with his family. Furthermore, during the war, James’s father, John, died. James, who was not able to be present for the death of his father, must have been feeling unimaginable pain and loss, all the while not knowing whether he would ever return to his family. Fighting as a soldier under these conditions must have not felt possible for James and may explain why he attempted to leave his unit.

Furthermore, it is possible that James did not desert his unit with the intention of leaving the military or avoiding fighting. Rather, it is highly likely that James had developed Shell Shock (PTSS) due to the horrific and fear-inducing nature of the events and illnesses he had experienced during the war. This, along with the death of his father, shows that James had confronted the realities of war which were so traumatising that he was unable to think rationally. The records of his apprehension in France, 1918, support this possibility. As Lewis had been found alone in an abandoned mill instead of travelling and enjoying the pleasures of life that he had not known during the war, it is likely that he was not of sound mind.

In the end, Lewis was tenacious enough to survive the brutalities of war for 3 years.  He accepted two medals of war, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. He received these for serving for the prescribed period and completing an active theatre of military operations, both accomplished feats for a soldier who struggled so deeply.