Samuel TUBEL

Regimental number3722
Place of birthRosewater, Port Adelaide, South Australia
SchoolPort Adelaide Model School, South Australia
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationFisherman
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation34
Height5' 9"
Weight114 lbs
Next of kinJohn William Tubel, Bedford Terrace, Rosewater, South Australia
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date8 May 1917
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll8 May 1917
Place of enlistmentAdelaide, South Australia
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name48th Battalion, 10th Reinforcements
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A16 Port Melbourne on 16 July 1917
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll43rd Battalion
FateKilled in Action 4 July 1918
Age at death from cemetery records36
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
137
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Son of John William TUBEL, Bedford Terrace, Newkingston, Roswater, South Australia. Commemorated in Cheltenham Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia.~
Family/military connectionsBrothers: 674 Pte Arthur TUBEL, 48th Bn, returned to Australia, 24 September 1918; 1745 Pte Robert TUBEL, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, 7 November 1915; 1267 Pte Walter TUBEL, 3rd Pioneer Bn, 15 September 1918.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 16 July 1917; disembarked Liverpool, England, 16 September 1917; marched in to 12th Training Bn, Codford, 17 September 1917.

Proceeded overseas to France, 18 December 1917; taken on strength, 43rd Bn, in the field, 24 December 1917.

Admitted to 10th Australian Field Ambulance, 31 December 1917 (chilblains), and transferred to 11th Australian Field Ambulance; discharged to duty, 2 January 1918; rejoined Bn, in the field, 5 January 1918.

Detached to Sniping School, 23 February 1918; rejoined Bn, 4 March 1918.

Admitted to 11th Australian Field Ambulance, 20 May 1918 (influenza), and transferred to 47th Casualty Clearing Station; discharged to duty, 26 May 1918; rerjoined Bn, in the field, 27 May 1918.

Killed in action, 4 July 1918.

Handwritten note on Form B103: 'Buried 850 yds N of Hamel (Sh 62.D SE) P4.a 35.45. UK Sh 5.'
Miscellaneous detailsName does not appear on Embarkation Roll.
SourcesNAA: B2455, TUBEL Samuel