HILLS, Herbert Clarence
| Service Number: | 3754 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 August 1915, Enlisted at Holdsworthy (now Holsworthy) |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 1st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Tingha, New South Wales, Australia, 8 September 1894 |
| Home Town: | Paddington, Woollahra, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tramcar Cleaner |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 7 November 1917, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Petersham Fort Street High School Great War Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3754, 1st Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Holdsworthy (now Holsworthy) | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 3754, 1st Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: RMS Mooltan embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 11 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 3754, 1st Infantry Battalion, RMS Mooltan, Sydney | |
| 26 Oct 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 1st Infantry Battalion | |
| 7 Nov 1917: | Involvement Sergeant, 3754, 1st Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3754 awm_unit: 1 Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1917-11-07 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Herbert Hill was born on 8th September 1894 at Tingha, NSW. On 11th August 1911 he commenced work with the NSW Tramways as a car cleaner at Waverley Depot. He transferred to the Sydney Depot in April 1913. He enlist in the AIF on 11th August 1915.
He signed his Attestation Papers on 25th August at Holdsworthy and being unmarried gave his mother living in Paddington as his next of kin. He left Australia from Sydney aboard RMS ‘Mooltan’ on 11th December 1915. He was taken in the strength of the 1st Australian Infantry Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir (Egypt) on 14th February 1916 and embarked from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Forces on the western front on 22nd March, reaching Marseilles late in that month.
He was slightly wounded in action, to his face, on 29th June 1916, He was away from the front at the 13th Australian Field Ambulance and the Divisional Rest Station until late July. On 26th October he was promoted to Corporal. A short time later he was hospitalised again with an injury to his hand which developed to the extent that he was evacuated to England. At the same timeh e contracted Influenza.
It was January 1917 before he was released from hospital and given furlough in England, though he was not fully fit for front line duty. While at Perham Downs he was disciplined for being Absent Without Leave apparently for only half an hour, on 6th February. For this he was reprimanded and forfeited two days’ pay
As he recovered, he was taken on the strength of the 61st Battalion. While at Windmill Hill he again offended, this time being Absent Without Leave for nine hours. He was admonished and forfeited 1 day’s pay. In May, Hills became a Temporary Sergeant and then a Sergeant in August. Apparently fully recovered re-joined the 1st Battalion on 16th October. Being a notably blond man, he was known as ‘Snowy’. His return to the front was brief.
He was killed in action on 7th November 1917. He was doing salvage work behind the front line and on his way with a pack horse to help a wounded man when he and another man, Crane, were hit by a shell and killed instantly.
He was buried near where he fell, but the site was lost and he has no known grave. He is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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