Groranni CAMILLO

Regimental number606
Place of birthMassa, Italy
Other NamesCAMILLO, Giovanni
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationWood-carter
AddressMassa, Italy
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21
Height5' 4"
Weight150 lbs
Next of kinFather, Luvige Camillo, Massa, Italy
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date23 March 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll22 March 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name24th Battalion, C Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/41/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on 10 May 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll24th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularEnlisted 22 March 1915; taken on strength 24th Bn 29 April 1915. Correct name stated to be Giovannini
FateKilled in Action 5 August 1916
Miscellaneous details (Nominal Roll)*CAMILLO Giovanini NR
Place of death or woundingPozieres, Somme Sector, France
Age at death22
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
101
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
See GIOVANNINI C. the true family name
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked Egypt to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 30 August 1915.

Admitted to No 6 Field Ambulance, 28 September 1915 (not yet diagnosed); transferred to No 1 Australian Casualty Clearing Station, 30 September 1915 (enteric fever); to Hospital Ship 'Mahene', Malta, 7 October 1915; to No 21 General Hospital, Alexandria, 15 October 1915; to Ras el Tin Convalescent Home, 22 November 1915; to Overseas Base, Ghezireh, 11 December 1915.

Proceeded to unit, 28 December 1915; rejoined 24th Bn, Tel el Kebir, 11 January 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 20 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 26 March 1916.

Found guilty, 21 May 1916, of absenting himself from defaulters' parade: awarded 14 days' Field Punishment No 2.

Wounded in action, 5 August 1916.

Now, 24 November 1916, reported as 'Wounded and Missing in Action, 5 August 1916'.

Now, 6 March 1917, reported as 'Killed in Action, 5 August 1916'.

Buried on Pozieres Battlefield by Reverend W.E. Dexter.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, CAMILLO Groranni