Benedict John Arthur DUNSTAN

Regimental number4483
Place of birthCarlton, Victoria
SchoolSacred Heart School, Carlton, Victoria
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationCanister maker
AddressFaraday, Connemarra Street, Bexley, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation23
Height5' 5"
Weight140 lbs
Next of kinFather, W Dunstan, Faraday, Connemarra Street, Bexley, New South Wales
Previous military serviceServed as volunteer in St George Rifles, Bexley, New South Wales; discharged at own request.
Enlistment date18 July 1915
Place of enlistmentLiverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name13th Battalion, 14th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/30/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A70 Ballarat on 16 December 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll54th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 20 July 1916
Place of death or woundingFrance
Age at death23.11
Age at death from cemetery records23
Place of burialFromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery (Plot I, Row E, Grave No 1), France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
159
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: William and Catherine Louisa DUNSTAN, 'Faraday', Coonemara Street, Bexley, New South Wlaes
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 16 February 1916; disembarked Egypt, 22 March 1916.

Joined 54th Bn, Ferry Post, 1 April 1916.

Admitted to 15th Field Ambulance, 6 April 1916, and transferred same day to No 2 Casualty Clearing Station (neutral regurgitaburn); discharged to unit for duty, 10 April 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 19 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 29 June 1916.

Note on Form B103: 'Sent to Field Amb. Wounded, 20/7/16.'

Killed in action, 20 July 1916.

Note on Form B103: '[Name] Extracted from List of dead men whose pay books were handed in to German Authorities by Geneva Red Cross.'

Red Cross File No 970709: 'Prisoner of war. Pay Book in hands of the Germans. Cert. by German Death List 9-9-16.'

'Identity disc received from Germany and despatched to N/K. 31.7.17.'

Letter, Australia house, London, to Base Records, Melbourne, 10 July 1924: ' ... according to a German Burial List received, Pte. Dunstan was buried in Fromelles Field Graves, and ... the investigation of the burials recorded on this German List is now proceeding.'

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

Originally listed as 'No Known Grave' and commemorated at V.C. Corner (Panel No 10), Australian Cemetery, Fromelles; subsequently (2010) identified, and interred in the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, France.
SourcesNAA: B2455, DUNSTAN Benedict John Arthur
Red Cross file 970709