STOKES, Patrick James
| Service Number: | 1826 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 January 1915, Bendigo, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, 1890 |
| Home Town: | Bendigo, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Marist Brothers School, Bendigo |
| Occupation: | Storeman |
| Died: | Died of Illness (Pneumonia), Cairo, Egypt, 23 August 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
Cairo War Memorial Cemetery Cairo War Memorial Cemetery, Cairo, Egypt |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor, Bendigo Marist Brothers College Great War Honour Roll, Bendigo White Hills Arch of Triumph |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1826, Bendigo, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1826, 7th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
| 14 Apr 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1826, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Melbourne | |
| 26 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1826, 7th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 9 Aug 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 1826, 7th Infantry Battalion, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli, Shell wound (head) | |
| 23 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1826, 7th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Jack Coyne
Patrick (JAMES) STOKES SN 1826
The Bendigo Papers reported on August 26, 1915 the following – PRIVATE JAMES STOKES.
'Information was received on Saturday that Private James Stokes, who was recently wounded at the Dardanelles through a bomb explosion, had succumbed to his injuries. The deceased soldier "was an orphan, and prior to enlisting he boarded with Mrs. Wilson, of McCrae street. He was about 25 years of age, and for some years was employed at Messrs. J. Andrew and Co.'s auction rooms, and subsequently was in the employ of Messrs. Curnow and Thomas, of Mitchell street. He was very popular with his comrades. Private William Stokes, a brother of the deceased soldier is at present in Bendigo on furlough from the Seymour camp'. (Source – The Bendigoian, August 26, 1915 p. 13)
Patrick James Stokes was known as James Stokes. He enlisted at the Bendigo Town Hall on January 6, 1915. He was 24 years of age and as we read in the above article his parents William and Margaret Stokes were both deceased and his Nearest of Kin (NOK) was his brother William Stokes who was living in the Boarding House ‘Gotland’ in McCrae street, Bendigo. Two other Bendigo soldiers Edwin Hall and Harry Watts both gave Gotland as their address around this same time.
James had attended the local Catholic school, Marist Brothers College also in McCrae street. He listed his occupation as a Storeman, however, he had worked in two well known Auctioneer businesses in Bendigo and a legal document published after his death stated James was an auctioneer.
On enlistment he was assigned to the 4th Reinforcements for the 7th Battalion on March 12, 1915. He would entrain to Melbourne and join the 7th Battalion training camp, headquarterd at the Broadmeadows camp.
In April (13), 1915 the 4th Reinforcements would embark on the HMAT A18 Wiltshire. Their first stop to refuel and replenish would be Colombo, Ceylon and then on into the Indian Ocean heading for the Suez Canal.
They would arrive in Alexandria, Egypt and join the 7th battalion camp already established at Mena, ten miles west of Cairo on the river Nile looking towards the great pyramids of Giza.
They would be ‘Taken on Strength’ (TOS) into the 7th Battalion on May 22, 1915. Just four days later on May 26, James and the 4th reinforcements would land on the Gallipoli Peninsula and join the entrenched and exhausted ANZAC troops at Anzac Cove.
He would survive a testing time on the Peninsula and be involved in one of the most famous assaults of the Gallipoli campaign, the Battle of Lone Pine. It was originally intended as a diversion from attempts by New Zealand and Australian units to force a breakout from the ANZAC perimeter on the heights of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. The Lone Pine attack, launched by the 1st Brigade AIF in the late afternoon of 6 August 1915 pitched Australian forces against formidable entrenched Turkish positions, sections of which were securely roofed over with pine logs. In some instances the attackers had to break in through the roof of the trench systems in order to engage the defenders. The main Turkish trench was taken within 20 minutes of the initial charge but this was the prelude to 4 days of intense hand-to-hand fighting, resulting in over 2,000 Australian casualties.
Unfortunately, James would be one of those casualties, wounded in the forehead by a shell on August 9 at the Lone Pine ridge. He is treated at the Casualty Clearing Stations on Anzac Cove however, he is evacuated by the hospital ship the Alanna off the Dardanelles and back to Egypt.
On August 14, he is admitted to the First Australian General Hospital in Cairo. He is treated there and transferred to the No.3 Auxiliary Hospital. On August 22, James is readmitted to the First General Hospital considered ‘Dangerous ill’ and dies the next day on August 23 from complications of Pneumonia and Laryngitis.
Private James Stokes of the AIF 7th Battalion is remembered by the people of White Hills. The names of the local lads who sacrificed their lives and those that were fortunate to return from the Great War are shown on the embossed copper plaques on the White Hills Arch of Triumph, at the entrance to the White Hills Botanic Gardens.
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