WITHNELL, Algernon John
| Service Number: | 8074 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 June 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Clackline, Western Australia, 15 June 1899 |
| Home Town: | Subiaco, Nedlands, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Station Hand |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 20 July 1918, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France, Mildura Public Cemetery, Mildura, Victoria, Australia |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Marradong St. Albans Church Honour Roll, Roebourne War Memorial, Subiaco Fallen Soldiers Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Jun 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 8074, 2nd Pioneer Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 8074, 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Oct 1917: | Embarked Private, 8074, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Melbourne |
Help us honour Algernon John Withnell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Algernon (Algy) John Withnell (Service No:8074) enlisted in the AIF in Perth on 18 June 1917, attached to 12/2 Pioneer Battalion. Private Withnell was attached to 11th Infantry Battalion when he embarked with his Unit on 30 October 1917 from Melbourne for Devonport on board HMAT A60 Aeneas. On 19 July 1918, Private Withnell was KiA - '.... killed instantly by a shell .... in the vicinity of the Mont de Merris and was buried where he fell. Some days later a cross was erected over his grave by a member of the 6th Battalion' (NAA: Lieutenant Biedel 11th Btn).
Algy was born at Clackline via Northam, WA in 1899, second of four children of Robert (Harding) Harding Dewitt Withnell (b1864 at Nicol Bay, Roebourne, WA) and Daisy Ethel Stanbridge (b1870 in Brisbane, QLD). Harding was a Squatter in Roebourne in 1896 when he and Daisy married in Roebourne, and lived in Roebourne and at Clackline in Northam, where Harding was a Station Manager. By 1909 the family had moved to Marradong via Boddington, where Harding was a Farmer and Fruit Grower before moving to Perth in 1915 where Harding was a Station Manager. Harding and Daisy later lived in Mudijong - Harding was an Orchardist - and Northam, where he was a Poultry Farmer before retiring to Perth.
Algy was working at Mundijong as a Station Hand when he enlisted in the AIF in June 1917. Older brother Sydney served in the AIF in WWI (also in France with 11th Battalion), and younger brother Alick served in WWII
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