Ernest James Henry NEWEY

NEWEY, Ernest James Henry

Service Number: 1747
Enlisted: 14 February 1916
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 58th Infantry Battalion
Born: Waterloo, Victoria, Australia, September 1896
Home Town: Waterloo, Clare and Gilbert Valleys, South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Miner
Died: Killed in Action, France, 27 March 1918
Cemetery: St. Pol British Cemetery, St. Pol-sur-Ternoise
Special Memorial 6, St Pol British Cemetery, St Pol-sur-Ternoise, Nord Pas de Calais, France
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Beaufort War Memorial, St. Pol British Cemetery Memorial, St. Pol-sur-Ternoise
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World War 1 Service

14 Feb 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1747, 58th Infantry Battalion
4 Apr 1916: Involvement Private, 1747, 57th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: ''
4 Apr 1916: Embarked Private, 1747, 57th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Melbourne
27 Mar 1918: Involvement Private, 1747, 58th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1747 awm_unit: 58th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-03-27

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Biography contributed by Evan Evans

From Ballarat & District in the Great War

Pte Ernest James Henry NEWEY

By 27 March, the fighting strength of the 58th Battalion had been packed up and moved to Meteren. Lieutenant Edward Ryan (from Bacchus Marsh), who had been in charge of arranging entrainment, was complimented for the excellence of his work when the train moved off five-minutes ahead of time to begin the journey to Doullens.

The train had covered over 60-kilometres to St Pol-sur-Tournoise when the unthinkable happened.
Although St Pol was over 30-kilometres behind the line, the movements through the town always attracted attention from the nearby German long-range artillery battery. The train carrying the 58th Battalion had stopped at the local railway station when the Germans opened fire. As the train moved beyond the station, one shell – either well-sighted or at random – landed directly on the moving train. The truck that received the direct hit from the 15-inch shell was carrying the entire Quartermaster’s staff and canteen assistants, ‘blowing it all to atoms.’ The officer’s carriage, which was next to the one hit, and four more trucks were derailed.

Of the nineteen men in the destroyed truck, only three made it out alive. The carnage was impossible to comprehend – most of those who bore the brunt of the blast were shattered beyond recognition.

Several men from Ballarat and district were on the troop train that day. Two were in the car that was hit – Ernie Newey, a 21-year-old machine-drill miner from Waterloo near Beaufort, and Bert Hughes, a 26-year-old grocer from Sebastopol, were both killed instantly.

When the damage was assessed, it was confirmed that 16 men had been killed and a further nine were wounded, including James Henry Amphlett, who would lose his right leg as a result of severe shrapnel wounds. Eight horses had also been killed.

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