Reginald George DENTON

Regimental number629
Place of birthJerilderie, New South Wales
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationLabourer
Address35 Lynch Street, Footscray, Melbourne, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation25
Height5' 6"
Weight161 lbs
Next of kinFather, Mr Denton, 35 Lynch Street, Footscray, Melbourne, Victoria
Previous military serviceMember of the Jerilderie Rifle Club for 1 year.
Enlistment date14 July 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll6 July 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name31st Battalion, C Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/48/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on 9 November 1915
31st Battalion Headquarters and Companies A, B, C and D sailed on two ships, HMAT A62 Wandilla, 9th November 1915 from Melbourne, and HMAT A41 Bakara, 5 November 1915, from Melbourne. It is not possible to tell from the Embarkation Roll on which ship an individual embarked.
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll31st Battalion
FateKilled in Action 21 July 1916
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
118
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Henry and Emeline DENTON, 652 Bridge Road, Richmond, Victoria
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Disembarked Suez, ex-HMT 'Wandilla', 7 December 1915.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 17 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 25 June 1916.

Wounded in action, 21 July 1916.

Previous report of wounded, now, 5 August 1916, wounded and missing, 21 July 1916.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 1 August 1917, pronounced fate as 'Killed in Action, 21 July 1916'.

Handwritten note on Form B103: 'Buried at Fleurbaix sh 36 NW. h 21.d'

Statement, Red Cross File No 971005, 578 Corporal W. BREW, 31st Bn (patient, 1st Australian auxiliary hospital, Harefield, England), 5 October 1916: 'Jaw shot away & seen wandering about aimlessly in German 1st line trenches, covered in blood about 6-30 pm. not at all likely to have returned. Fleurbaix July 19th.'

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsFather's address subsequently 5 Maldon Street, Footscray, Victoria
SourcesNAA: B2455, DENTON Reginald George
Red Cross File No 0971005
Red Cross file 910610