The AIF Project

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 16 February 1916; disembarked Suez, 23 March 1916.

Proceeded to 30th Bn from 8th Training Bn, Zeitoun, 1 April 1916; taken on strength 30th Bn, Ferry Post, 1 April 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 16 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 23 June 1916.

Wounded in action, 20 July 1916.

Now, 12 January 1917, to reported wounded and missing, 20 July 1916.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 23 July 1917, pronounced fate as 'killed in action, 20 July 1916'.

Statement, Red Cross File No 1320502, Captain J.A. CHAPMAN, 30th Bn, 28 January 1917: 'While leading my platoon up the sap Pte Hepple was wounded in the hand{.} I sent him to the Dressing Station and he rejoined me further up the sap. I saw him forward with ammunition and he went over to the German lines. He was the only man I could account for on the morning after the battle. Reports I collected then stated that he was wounded badly in the right shoulder and last seen in the German trenches.'

Second statement, 936 Pte J.W. McGLENAUGHAN, D Company, 30th Bn (patient, Beech House Military Hospital, Brondesbury NW, London, England), 15 January 1917: 'Informant states that on July 20th. 1916 at Fromelles Pte Hepple was wounded in the shoulder and made prisoner by the enemy'. Note on file: 'Eyewitness: No, the Adjutant of the Battalion said that he had received information that he was a prisoner.'

Originally listed as 'No Known Grave' and commemorated at V.C. Corner (Panel No 2), Australian Cemetery, Fromelles; subsequently (2011) identified, and interred in the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, France.