Hubert Mark SHIELD

Date of birth27 May 1888
Place of birthBrookfield, Queensland
SchoolKangaroo Point State School, Brisbane, Queensland
ReligionMethodist
OccupationSchool teacher
AddressBrisbane, Queensland
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation27.9
Height5' 5"
Weight127 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mr A J Shield, c/o Mrs H Payne, Taringa Bues, Payne Street, Brisbane, Queensland
Enlistment date17 July 1915
Place of enlistmentChermside, Queensland
Rank on enlistment2nd Lieutenant
Unit name9th Battalion, 15th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/26/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A73 Commonwealth on 28 March 1916
Rank from Nominal RollLieutenant
Unit from Nominal Roll9th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour Circular'Good all round athlete and could pass any examination he set his mind to. Very thorough in all he took on.' [Wife: Alice Jane Shield of Childers, Qld.]
FateKilled in Action 14 April 1917
Place of death or woundingLagnicourt, France
Date of death13 April 1917
Age at death28
Age at death from cemetery records28
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
57
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Michael and Alice SHIELD, 'Abbenhall', Wilson Street, Taringa, Queensland
Family/military connectionsBrothers: 6061 Gunner Albert SHIELD, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade, returned to Australia, 1 August 1919; 17289 Driver Edgar William SHIELD, 11th Field Artillery Brigade, returned to Australia, 12 May 1919.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, SHIELD Hubert Mark