The AIF Project

Ernest William ABBOTT

Regimental number1516
Date of birth1892
Place of birthWhite Hills, Bendigo, Victoria
ReligionMethodist
OccupationPotter
Address90 Ramsay Road, Haberfield, Sydney, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation23
Height5' 4"
Weight126 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Mary Ann Abbott, 90 Ramsay Road, Haberfield, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date11 July 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll11 July 1915
Place of enlistmentLiverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentCorporal
Unit name30th Battalion, 1st Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/47/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A72 Beltana on 9 November 1915
Rank from Nominal RollLance Corporal
Unit from Nominal Roll30th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 20 July 1916
Place of death or woundingBattle of Fromelles, France
Age at death24.7
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsV.C. Corner (Panel No 2), Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles, France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
116
Family/military connectionsBrother: 3186 Pte Herbert ABBOTT, 56th Bn, returned to Australia, 22 July 1917.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 9 November 1915; disembarked Suez, 11 December 1915.

Joined A Company, 30th Bn, Tel-el-Kebir, 15 February 1916.

Appointed Lance Corporal, 11 March 1916.

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

Wounded in action and reported missing, 20 July 1916.

Base Records informed mother, 16 August 1916, that 'L/Cpl. E.W. Abbott ... has been reported wounded'. It wrote further, 18 September 1916: 'The nature of his wounding, and the name of the hospital in which he is located are not known here.'

Red Cross File No 10206 has statement from 277 H.C. RICHARDS, 20 March 1917: 'I saw him wounded by machine gun [fire] and badly at that for he was hit in the stomach. It was in No Man's Land. They tried to take him away to a dressing station but none of us ever seen (sic) him in the trenches again. It was July 20th [and] I feel sure he died of his wounds. He was not a prisoner I think, for we had a list of the prisoners and his name was not on the list.'

Statement from Captain J.A. CHAPMAN, 13 January 1917: 'He was wounded in the stomach by a rifle buller, and was last seen in No Man's Land on the night of 19.7.1916.'

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

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Mother wrote to Base Records, 17 March 1917: 'I have had letters from three different soldiers, who told me he was shot in the stomache (sic) and he was in the dressing shed behind the lines and had his wounds dressed from that all trace of him is lost. One soldier who wrote was in the shed at the same time getting his wounds dressed ... Is it likely he could be a prisoner and not be able to write, I am sure he would if he possible (sic) could it is eight months now and the suspense is awful.'
Miscellaneous detailsMother's subsequent addresses: 'Stroude', Dalhousie Street, Haberfield, New South Wales; Wimbledon Street, Five Dock, New South Wales
SourcesNAA: B2455, ABBOTT Ernest William
Red Cross file 10206

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