Algernon Ernest ARTHUR

Regimental number1200
Place of birthBinalong, New South Wales
SchoolBinalong Public School, New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationFarmer
AddressBinalong, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation18
Height5' 11.5"
Weight150 lbs
Next of kinFather, J Arthur, Binalong, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date14 March 1916
Place of enlistmentGoulburn, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit nameLight Trench Mortar Battery, Reinforcement 2
AWM Embarkation Roll number13/130/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A40 Ceramic on 7 October 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll13th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 11 April 1917
Place of death or woundingReport Missing (Place not known)
Age at death20
Age at death from cemetery records19
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
68
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Commemorated on Roll of Honour, Binalong Mechanics Institute, New South Wales. Parents: James and Sophia ARTHUR, Binalong, New South Wales
Family/military connectionsBrother: 2368 Pte Victor Alexander ARTHUR, 55th Bn, returned to Australia, 23 June 1919.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 7 October 1916; disembarked Plymouth, England, 21 November 1916.

Transferred to 13th Bn, 6 February 1917.

Proceeded overseas to France, 20 March 1917; taken on strength, 13th Bn, in the field, 24 March 1917.

Reported missing in action, 11 April 1917.

Court of Enquiry, 8 October 1917, declared fate to be 'Killed in Action, 11 April 1917'.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, ARTHUR Algernon Ernest
Red Cross File No 0140403C