Marc Stanley CORNELIUS

Regimental number3071
Place of birthWilmington, South Australia
SchoolPublic School, South Australia
ReligionMethodist
OccupationElectrical engineer
AddressKatanning, Western Australia
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation38
Height5' 0"
Weight145 lbs
Next of kinSister, Miss Jessie Martin Cornelius, Katanning, Western Australia
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date13 September 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll27 August 1915
Place of enlistmentBlackboy Hill, Western Australia
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name28th Battalion, 7th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/45/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A7 Medic on 18 January 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll28th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 16-18 November 1916
Place of death or woundingFlers, France
Age at death39
Age at death from cemetery records39
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
112
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Richard and Jane CORNELIUS
Family/military connectionsBrother: 1554 Lance Corporal John Bowden CORNELIUS, 10th Light Horse Regiment, returned to Australia, 10 July 1919.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Embarked Fremantle, 18 January 1916; disembarked Alexandria, 16 February 1916.

Transferred to Cyclist Corps, 2nd Australian Division, Canal Zone, 14 March 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 19 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 30 March 1916.

Transferred to 28th Bn, 24 August 1916; taken on strength, 28th Bn, 29 August 1916.

Reported missing, 16-18 November 1916.

Court of Enquiry, 20 July 1917, concluded: 'Killed in action, 16-18 November 1916.'

Note on file: 'Buried by Rev F.H. Dwinford, 6th Infantry Brigade Headquarters (Report not verified)'; grave subsequently lost.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsFirst given name incorrectly entered on Embarkation Roll as Mare.
SourcesNAA: B2455, CORNELIUS Marc Stanley
Red Cross File No 0810104E