Samuel WOOLF

Regimental number2226
Place of birthPendeen, Cornwall, England
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLabourer
AddressNambour, Queensland
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation37
Height5' 6"
Weight136 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs Elizabeth Anne Woolf, Nambour, Queensland
Previous military serviceNil (previously rejected for AIF enlistment on account of failing riding test, Enoggera)
Enlistment date6 July 1915
Place of enlistmentBrisbane, Queensland
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name25th Battalion, 4th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/42/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A26 Armadale on 18 September 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll9th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 23 July 1916
Age at death from cemetery records46
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
58
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Samuel and Grace WOOLF; Wife: Elizabeth Ann WOOLF
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Joined 9th Bn, Habieta, 23 February 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 27 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 3 April 1916.

Reported missing in action, 23 July 1916.

Statement by 2220 C. TOMLINSON, 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, England, 1 September 1916: 'Informant states that ... [document cut off] 22nd July, 1916, and left out in "No Man's Land" (according to general talk next morning. A lot of men were left out that night. It was impossible to get them in, as the fire was too heavy.'

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 2 July 1917, pronounced fate as 'killed in action, 23 July 1916'.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsWife's subsequent address: Brighton Villa, Cordelia Street, South Brisbane, Queensland