The AIF Project

Richard Henry DAFFON

Regimental number2141
Place of birthBirmingham, England
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationHairdresser
Address74 Glenmore Road, Paddington, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation29
Height5' 3.5"
Weight126 lbs
Next of kinBrother, G.H. Daffon, c/o G Hadley and Co., Cardall Street, Blackheath, Birmingham, England
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date7 July 1915
Place of enlistmentLiverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name20th Battalion, 4th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/37/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A8 Argyllshire on 30 September 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll20th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 15 November 1916
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
90
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 4 November 1915; taken on strength of 'B' Company, 20th Bn, Gallipoli, 11 November 1915.

Admitted to No 6 Light Horse Field Ambulance, Mudros, 23 December 1915 (gastritis); rejoined unit, 24 December 1915.

Disembarked Alexandria, 9 January 1916.

Admitted to No 7 Field Ambulance, Tel el Kebir, 7 February 1916 (dysentery); discharged to duty, 14 February 1916.

Admitted to No 7 Field Ambulance, Railhead, 21 February 1916; transferred to No 2 Australian Casualty Clearing Station, Ferry Post, 21 February 1916; discharged, 8 March 1916, and rejoined unit, Moascar, the same day.

Struck off the strength of 20th Bn, 17 March 1916, and taken on strength of Overseas Base, Ghezerieh, the same day.

Admitted to No 3 Australian General Hospital, Abbassia, 24 March 1916 (dysentery).

Taken on strength of 5th Training Bn, Tel el Kebir, 23 April 1916.

Transferred to Imperial Camel Corps, 5 May 1916.

Admitted to No 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Heliopolis, 17 June 1916, and transferred to Montaza Convalescent Depot the same day (bunions).

Embarked for England, no date stated.

Proceeded overseas to France from England, 22 September 1916; marched into 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 24 September 1916.

Rejoined 20th Bn, Belgium, 7 October 1916.

Killed in action, 15 November 1916.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, DAFFON Richard Henry

Print format    


© The AIF Project 2024, UNSW Canberra. Not to be reproduced without permission.