DE RAEVE, Ernest John
| Service Number: | 3011 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 July 1916, Brisbane, Qld. |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 41st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 1896 |
| Home Town: | Forest Hill, Lockyer Valley, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Belgium, 4 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery XX F 4A |
| Memorials: | Boonah War Memorial, Brisbane 41st Battalion Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Jul 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3011, 41st Infantry Battalion, Brisbane, Qld. | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Feb 1917: | Involvement Private, 3011, 41st Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Feb 1917: | Embarked Private, 3011, 41st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Sydney | |
| 4 Oct 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 3011, 41st Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3011 awm_unit: 41st Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-10-04 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Jean and Rubena Eadie DE RAEVE
Ernest Deraeve enlisted in Brisbane on 25th July 1916. He stated he was a farmer from Forest Hill (near Gatton), single, aged 20 years and 8 months. Ernest’s elder brother, Harold had enlisted in the Light Horse as soon as war was declared in 1914. He gave his occupation as stockman and his address as Gatton. It is reasonable to assume that Harold and Ernest had been farming together somewhere between Gatton and Forest Hill.
Ernest had originally named his father, Jean Deraeve, of Mount Chalmers via Rockhampton as his next of kin but perhaps due to the itinerant nature of his father’s employment (Jean was a chemical engineer), he changed the notification to his sister Lillian Matthews of Wilston.
After a period in camp at Enoggera, Ernest was allocated as part of the 7th reinforcements for the 41st Battalion. He had told his recruiter that he had experience in the school cadets while at Brisbane Normal School which may have been the reason Ernest was given the rank of Acting Corporal for the sea journey to England. The reinforcements arrived in Devonport on 11th April 1917 and then travelled to the Training Depot at Fovant where Ernest was demoted to the rank of private.
Ernest did not join his battalion in Belgium until August 1917, where he was immediately promoted to Lance Corporal. The 41st Battalion was part of the 11th brigade of the 3rd Division AIF. The entire 11th brigade had been engaged in action at Messines from June of 1917 and by September were in camp around Poperinghe preparing for the brigade’s next major offensive. While the battalion was in camp, Ernest was sent off to bomb school (hand and rifle grenade procedures).
The 41st Battalion War Diary records that on 1st October, the battalion boarded trains on the light railway network that brought men and materials to the front. From Ypres the battalion billeted along the Menin Road before moving up to the jumping off trenches beyond Polygon Wood. Instructions had been given that during the advance, troops were to keep as close as possible to the creeping barrage laid down by the artillery to reduce the threat of the enemy re-occupying pill box machine gun emplacements. The attack on the Broodesinde Ridge at Zonnebeke would be Ernest’s first time facing the enemy. The battalion war diary records that all objectives of the attack at Zonnebeke were achieved, with “minimal casualties”.
The battalion casualty figures given state that on the 4th October 1917, 36 men were killed and 206 wounded; from a battalion strength of around 950. One of the wounded was Ernest Deraeve. He received gunshot wounds to his left leg and hand and was transported back along the light rail to the 2nd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station at Poperinghe. In spite of the swiftness with which Ernest was evacuated to the CCS, he succumbed to his wounds later that same day.
Ernest was buried in the Lijssenthoek New Military Cemetery south of Poperinghe.
His personal effects were collected from kit stores in England and Belgium and made up into a parcel which was shipped from London to be delivered to Jean Deraeve. Unfortunately, the “Barunga” carrying the personal effects of several hundred soldiers as well as injured soldiers returning to Australia was torpedoed by a U-Boat off the Scilly Isles. No lives were lost but the “Barunga” took all of its cargo to the bottom.
From the available information, it is difficult to determine the reason for Ernest Deraeve’s inclusion on the Boonah Memorial, given that he was born and educated in Brisbane, and at enlistment was farming in the Lockyer Valley. His name does not appear on the Forest Hill Memorial but his brother Harold is included. Harold Deraeve rose to the rank of Sergeant Major by war’s end. He went to live in England in 1921 where he married, and sought a commission in the Royal Air Force.
Courtesy of Ian Lang
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
MILITARY -NEWS.
Quite a gloom was cast over this locality when it became known that Mr. J. Baulch had received word that Corp. E. J. DeRaeve had died of wounds on the 4th of October (writes our Lake Clarendon correspondent). The deceased soldier was well known here, and highly respected, and is the first of the Lake Clarendon lads to pay the supreme sacrifice. He left with reinforcements towards the latter part of last year, and prior to his enlisting was managing a farm for Mr. J. Baulch, at Boonah.