Cecil Vincent GRIFFITHS

Regimental number4793
Place of birthSydney, New South Wales
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationLabourer
Address42 College Street, Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation25
Height5' 6"
Weight132 lbs
Next of kinFather, R Griffiths, 42 College Street, Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date28 August 1915
Place of enlistmentWarwick Farm, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name2nd Battalion, 15th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/19/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A15 Star of England on 8 March 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll60th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 19 July 1916
Age at death from cemetery records26
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsV.C. Corner (Panel No 20), Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles, France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
170
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Robert and Johanna GRIFFITHS. Native of Balmain, New South Wales
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Found guilty, at sea, 27 March 1916, of breaking ship at Colombo: fined £5.

Found guilty, Tel el Kebir, 17 April 1916, of being absent without leave, 11 April 1916: awarded 120 hours' detention, and forfeited 5 days' pay under Royal Warrant.

Taken on strength, 54th Bn, Ferry Post, 20 April 1916.

Transferred to 60th Bn, and taken on strength, Ferry Post, 18 May 1916.Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 18 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 29 June 1916.

Reported missing in Action, 19 July 1916.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 4 August 1917, pronounced fate as 'Killed in action, 19 July 1916'.

Note, Red Cross File No 1220514: 'No trace Germany. Cert. by Capt. Mills. 10.10.19.'

Statement, 219 Pte G. ONIONS, C Company, 60th Bn, 28 February 1917: 'I think I saw him killed by a piece of shell in our front line trench just before the charge at Fleurbaix on 19th. July. Things were very mixed up and I was in a hazy condition. I asked about him afterwards and several of my mates confirmed what I believed I had seen.'

Second statement, 2190 Pte G. ONIONS, C Company, 60th Bn (patient, 3td Southern General Hospital, Masonic Hall, Oxford, England), 26 April 1917: 'Informant states that on July 19th at Fromelles we were in the front line breastworks waiting to go over, when my friend Pte. Cecil V. Griffiths was shot in the head; he was killed instantaneously, I was knocked in the arm at the same time.'

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, GRIFFITHS Cecil Vincent
Red Cross File No 1220514