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Norman Asher CORKILL was born 1895 in Annandale, Sydney NSW His parents were William & Rose CORKILL S/N 4378 20th Battalion - Private He enlisted 21st September 1915 Unit embarked Sydney on HMAT Nestor April 1916 Norman died of wounds in France on 11th March 1918 aged 20 years He had married Rosina Eliza WIGGER in 1917 in Paddington (London) His wife Rosina & child were given an Indulgence passage from England to Australia Link to a photo of his headstone in Pont D'Achelles Military Cemetery - Nieppe, France Plot 1, row G, Grave 8, http://twgpp.org/information.php?id=1631503

Norman Asher CORKHILL was born in the Sydney suburb of Annandale on 23rd February 1898. On 2nd April 1912, aged 14, he joined the NSW Government Railways and Tramways as an Office Lad in the Tramways Traffic Branch at Sydney. On 25th March 1913 he transferred to the Tramways Electrical Branch, initially as a cleaner at Sydney, then, from 17th April 1913, as a Messenger at Ultimo Power House. Finally, he became an electrical junior at Ultimo Power House from 28th January 1914. On 21st September 1915, aged 17 years and 7 months, he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces.

In the AIF, Norman became known as Norman Asher Corkill (although his Attestation Paper shows his name was originally written as Corkhill),. He is recorded under Corkill at the Australian War Memorial. He enlisted with the rank of Private (Service Number 4378) and was posted to the 11th Reinforcements and the 20th Infantry Battalion. He gave his age as 18 years and 7 months and nominated his father, William Robert Corkhill of Guildford, NSW, as his next of kin.

Norman embarked  in Sydney for England aboard HMAT A71 ‘Nestor’ on 9 th April 1916. He stayed in England undergoing training until 9th September 1916 when he was sent to France. During this period he formed a relationship with Rosina Eliza Wigger, a munitions worker from North Kensington in London, who was about 5-years-older than he was. On 25th April 1917 she gave birth to a son, Harold Leslie Norman Wigger, who was baptised two days later on 27th April 1917 at St Mark's Church of England, Marylebone Rd, Westminster. He was one of several children baptised that day whose mother’s name was the only one recorded.

Meanwhile, Norman joined the 20th Infantry Battalion on 2nd October 1916. On 14th October 1916 he was wounded in action, receiving gunshot wounds to the left leg, arm and chest. The wounds were sufficiently severe to warrant his evacuation to hospital in England. On 8th February 1917 he left England for France again.

Norman re-joined the 20th Battalion on 13th February 1917. On 5th March 1917 he reported sick. He was suffering from onychia (inflammation of the matrix of the nail or of adjacent parts of the finger or toe due to pathogens entering through small wounds, often leading to suppuration and loss of the nail). This kept him out of action until 16th March 1917. On 20th April 1917 he again reported sick. He was suffering from a severe case of trench foot (resulting from long exposure to damp, unsanitary and cold conditions, marked by blackening and death of surface tissue). This resulted in his evacuation to England again. He reached a hospital in Birmingham on 14th May 1917. Notes on his medical record for this time state: ‘No nail on big toe, left foot. Burns on putting foot in cold H2O.’ It was not until 20th August 1917 that his feet were judged to be fully recovered.

However, Norman was sufficiently recovered to be discharged from hospital on 5th July 1917 for two weeks furlough. During his furlough he took the opportunity to marry Rosina, their marriage being registered at Paddington in London (under the name Corkill). The AIF officially recognised her as his next of kin in October 1917.

On 20th October 1917 he  re-joined the 20th Infantry Battalion. On 11th March 1918 he was wounded in action in Belgium. He suffered a gunshot wound to the left thigh. He died of his wounds on the same day.

Norman’s grave is in the Pont D’Achelles Military Cemetery, Nieppe (5km west of Armentières), Nord Pas de Calais, France. While the Australian War Memorial gives his age as 29 when he died, he was in fact only 20. This seems to be in spite of AIF Base Records writing to the Imperial War Graves Commission in December 1926, pointing out that his correct age at death was 20, and asking that his headstone inscription be checked to ensure its accuracy, and the Imperial War Graves Commission writing back in January 1927 agreeing to amend his proof slip entry and noting that his ‘headstone is quite in order’.

After Norman’s death his widow was awarded a pension of 40 shillings per fortnight, starting from 21st May 1918, and their son Harold (who was noted as being illegitimate) was awarded a pension of 20 shillings per fortnight, also starting from 21st May 1918. Thiis expired on 25th April 1933, his 16th birthday. By 1923, Norman’s widow and son had migrated to Australia and initially taken up residence near his parents in Guildford, NSW. Records show that Rosina lived until 1967, but never remarried. Their son changed his surname from Wigger to Corkill and his name appears on several Electoral Rolls, which indicate he had married by the mid-1940s. Harold was a machinist by occupation, and in 1980 he was living in Chester Hill, NSW.

- based on notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board