NOYES, Keith Hayden
| Service Number: | 5168 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 January 1916, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Norwood, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Norwood (SA), South Australia |
| Schooling: | Christian Brothers College, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Salesman |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Somme, France, 8 November 1916, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Dartmoor Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt Dartmoor Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Christian Brothers' College WW1 Roll of Honor, Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Burra District WW1 Honor Roll, Burra Fallen Soldiers Memorial, Norwood War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Mar 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 5168, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 5168, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Shropshire, Adelaide | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 10th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Keith Hayden Noyes was born in Norwood, South Australia in 1892, his next of kin was his mum who lived on 103 Marryatville road. He was single and he was 24 years and 9 months old when he enrolled. He was a salesman and had no children, he was a hardworking man who took his job very seriously and joined the army as back then most people thought it would be quick as Australia were allied to Great Britain and other largely populated countries.
He was enlisted into the 16th reinforcement of the 10th Infantry Battalion on the 10th of January 1916. Many of Keith’s friends enlisted before him or with him as many people were joining back then which would have also convinced him to go, tragically he and his friends may have seen some horrible things that no one would ever want to see and due to this his friends would probably suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Keith became a Private in the army, after his hard training and he was located at Pozieres, in northern France where he would have his first and only fight. Before any of his battles, his battalion was attacked fatally by surprise multiple times. On May the 9th at 8 o’clock shells were fired towards Keith’s trenches by surprise and on May the 30th once again they were attacked by surprise. Both of these attacks killed many troops. On Tuesday the 6th of June Keith’s battalion made their way from Rouge de Bout to the Pertillion section of the front line. With surprisingly only one casualty this was very lucky as the Germans had machine guns preparing to shoot them down.
In his first fight, Keith Hayden Noyes tragically died due to a shell exploding and fracturing both of his legs. The combination of his fractured legs and the blood loss he would have received would have made his death very slow and painful. The English had many deaths as the Germans used machine guns. Keith’s death was not in vain, as his battalion won the battle and he earned himself a victory medal.
Keith is currently buried in Dartmoor Cemetery (Plot II, Row E, Grave No. 53), Becordel-Becourt, France, as his body was found unlike many of allies, as their bodies may have been not have been fully recovered so what they found would have been buried. It took all his loved ones a good amount of time to move on as they were very deeply depressed.
Unfortunately, there were no first-hand diaries or notes from Keith or about Keith to be found so we do not know how he was feeling and what the conditions were like, however from what we know we can deduce that he would have spent time in a dusty, smelly, filthy place with pieces of dead bodies everywhere. Keith showed amazing ANZAC spirit as he was a courageous, inspirational young troop who showed dedication to the army and was not afraid of death. Anyone who thought in the war showed amazing ANZAC spirit and we should feel deeply grateful for them fighting for us.