HEMPEL, Arthur Ernest
| Service Number: | 1025 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Squadron Leader |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 April 1892 |
| Home Town: | Bendigo, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bookseller |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Sep 1914: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Lance Corporal, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Mar 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, GSW left wrist & hip. | |
| 16 Mar 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1025, 7th Infantry Battalion, Formally discharged from AIF. Was previously transferred to Royal Flying Corps 14 November 1916 for training and was later granted a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the RFC. |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Apr 1937: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Squadron Leader |
|---|
World War 1 Service
| Date unknown: | Involvement British Forces (All Conflicts), Second Lieutenant, Royal Flying Corps |
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World War 2 Service
| Date unknown: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Squadron Leader |
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Help us honour Arthur Ernest Hempel's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
21 October 1917, 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Ernest Hempel of 84 Squadron RFC was shot down and captured in Belgium, behind the German lines near Passchaendale. According to the book “Under the Guns of the German Aces” by Norman Franks, Hempel’s SE.5a fighter was shot down by the infamous Lt. Hermann Goring of Jasta 27, his 15th victory.
Hempel, of Malvern Victoria, was an original member of the 7th Battalion AIF, and had sailed with the first force in 1914. He was in action at the Landing 25 April 1915, but suffered gunshot wounds to the left wrist and hip on that first day, and was evacuated to England. In England during December he had an accident on a motorcycle, and was in a coma for 10 days, suffering concussion to the brain, a fractured skull and a broken collar bone. Upon his recovery, he then joined the RFC. He returned home safely after the war and served in the RAAF for many years.
He served in the RAF until returning to Australia in 1923. According to a newspaper report in 1935, “An R.A.A.F. seaplane, under the command of Squadron Leader A. Ë. Hempel, which has been engaged in a round-Australia survey flight, arrived at Port Adelaide from Port Lincoln today. Squadron-Leader Hempel is completing a journey which has lasted nearly seven months.”
Biography contributed by Larna Malone
Arthur Ernest Hempel, was born in St Kilda, Vic., the son of Harry Ernest & Ellie Charlotte Hempel, of Malvern, Vic. He was a Bookseller, lived at 226 Barnard street, Bendigo, and had previously served in the Naval Cadets (3 years). He was 22 years & 6 months old when he volunteered for the Expeditionary Force.
He Enlisted on 14/9/14 for the 2nd Expeditionary Force, but on arrival at Broadmeadows Camp was drafted into the 1st Force to fill a vacancy. He was allotted Service no. 1025 and appointed to ‘G’ Company, 7th Battalion. He was promoted to Corporal on 28/9/14, and then to Lance-Sergeant.
The 7th Battalion left Broadmeadows Camp on 18 October, 1914, and embarked for service overseas on board HMAT ‘Hororata’. Arriving in Egypt the battalion moved into camp at Mena, at the foot of the pyramids. (6/12/14)
In January, 1915, the Australian force was re-organized. In the 7th Battalion ‘G’ and ‘H’ Companies joined to form the new ‘D’ Company. This meant that all the men from Northern Victoria were together in one Company.
On March 20 Arthur Ernest Hempel was promoted to Sergeant.
The 7th Battalion was part of the force which landed at Anzac Cove on 25th April, 1915. Sgt Hempel was Wounded during the Landing, sustaining GSW to his left wrist and hip. “I had bad luck to stop two bullets in the first ‘helping of Turkey’ on Sunday, 25th April, and one again on Monday.” [Bendigonian. July 1, 1915]
He was discharged from hospital on 5/7/15. He spent the next few months in England. On 13/12/15 he was thrown off a motorcycle (an Accident), sustaining a fractured bone of the skull and a fractured left clavicle. He was attached London HQ (20/3/16) and re-joined the 7th Battalion on 23/9/16. On 15/11/16 he transferred to The Royal Flying Corps, England, and was Appointed 2nd Lieut., Imperial Army.
He RTA in 1922.
“The First Lot. 7th Battalion. The first men of the Bendigo district to volunteer for service in the First World War.”: Larna Malone
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