KERWICK, James Joseph
| Service Number: | 6108 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 June 1916, Place of enlistment - Sydney, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | North Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia, 28 June 1878 |
| Home Town: | Erskineville, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Public School |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 3 October 1918, aged 40 years |
| Cemetery: |
Templeux-le-Guerard Communal Cemetery Extension Row C, Grave 41 Headstone Inscription "IN LOVING MEMORY AT REST", |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Jun 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6108, 18th Infantry Battalion, Place of enlistment - Sydney, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Oct 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 6108, 18th Infantry Battalion, Embarked on HMAT 'A11' Ascanius from Sydney on 25th October 1916. | |
| 3 Oct 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 6108, 18th Infantry Battalion, Died of wounds. |
Help us honour James Joseph Kerwick's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Daryl Jones
Son of James Joseph KERWICK, husband of Bertha E. GERARD (formerly KERWICK), of 13 Belvoir Street, Sydney, New South Wales. Born at Melbourne, Victoria.
Biography contributed by John Oakes
James KERWICK (Service Number 6108) was born on 28th June 1878 in North Fitzroy, Victoria. At the age of 37 he started work as a boilermakers’ helper at Eveleigh Locomotive Works on 20th July 1915.
He was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 26th July 1916 and enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds (Moore Park Sydney). At that time, he was married to Bertha Elizabeth and they lived in Erskineville. He gave his age as 37 years and a month, whereas by the birthdate written on his railway card he was a year older.
Kerwick left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Ascanius’ on 25th October 1916 and reached Devonport (England) on 28th December. He marched in to the 5th Training Battalion at Rollestone. He was soon hospitalised with a rash, which was then diagnosed as Scabies. It was late January 1917 before he joined the Battalion and early April before he proceeded overseas to France to join the 18th Australian Infantry Battalion in the field. In August 1917 he was again hospitalised. This developed into a prolonged absence from the front in hospitals at St Omer, Boulogne, Trouville and Havre. He did not re-join the Battalion until November 1917.
In January 1918 he was detached to the 5th Brigade Headquarters in Belgium and he stayed with this duty until August 1918 when he was given leave in England. Pte S Lee (6795) in reporting the details of Kerwick’s death, volunteers the information that he was ‘cook of the Green Diamonds (Dramatic) Company.’
He returned to his battalion, rather than the Brigade Headquarters in September.
On 3rd October 1918, he received a shrapnel wound to his thigh while fighting at Bullecourt and died of this wound two days later.
Kerwick was buried at Templeux-le-Guerard Communal Cemetery Extension, nine miles NW of St Quentin.
By 1922 Kerwick’s widow had remarried as Mrs Gerard and she proved hard to trace, although she still lived in inner Sydney at Redfern. The military wished to deliver the Memorial Scroll and Plaque, but they were several times returned. They tried to contact her by asking the Post Office to advise her when she called to collect her pension of their desire to make contact and deliver the items. Ultimately there is a signed receipt from her in Kerwick’s file to indicate that they were delivered in 1923.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.