| Regimental number | 645 |
| Place of birth | Sydney, New South Wales |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Occupation | Envelope cutter |
| Address | 'Brayside', Haden Street, Enfield, New South Wales |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 31 |
| Next of kin | Mother, Mrs E Parkin, 'Brayside', Haden Street, Enfield, New South Wales |
| Previous military service | Was a member of the Enfield Rifle Club for 4 years. |
| Enlistment date | |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 20th Battalion, B Company |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/37/1 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A35 Berrima on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Private |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 20th Battalion |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 24 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 23), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 92 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Benjamin and Ellen PARKIN, 'Braeside', 3 Heydon Street, Enfield, New South Wales |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front Proceeded to join Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 16 August 1915. Tried by Field General Court Martial, Russell's Top, 10 September 1915, on a charge of sleeping at his post while on active service as a sentry, 2 September 1915; found Not Guilty. Admitted to 5th Field Ambulance, 10 October 1915 (dysentery); embarked on hospital ship, 11 October 1915; admitted to St George's Hospital, Malta, 15 October 1915; transferred to England, 29 October 1915, and admitted to 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth, 10 November 1915. Disembarked Alexandria from England, 5 March 1916. Proceeded from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 18 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 25 March 1916. Reported missing in action, Belgium, 9 October 1917; Court of Inquiry, 13 October 1917, confirmed fate as killed in action. Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
