S2620
SPURR, Raymond Upton Petro
| Service Number: | 9674 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 11th Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Adelaide , 30 March 1892 |
| Home Town: | Gilberton, Walkerville, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | 28 July 1957, aged 65 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Feb 1916: | Enlisted | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 1916: | Embarked Driver, 9674, 11th Field Company Engineers, HMAT Suevic, Adelaide | |
| 31 May 1916: | Involvement Driver, 9674, 11th Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Suevic embarkation_ship_number: A29 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 9674, 11th Field Company Engineers |
World War 2 Service
| 1 Apr 1942: | Enlisted Adelaide, SA |
|---|
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Raymond Upton Petro Spurr
Before the war
Raymond Upton Petro Spurr was born on the 30th March 1892 in his birth town, Saint Peters, Adelaide South Australia. He believed in the religion Church of England and before the war began Raymond worked as a farmer which, most likely entailed doing hard labour and help him gain the necessary skills to join the army. Later Raymond married, Vera F Spurr who was his next of kin if anything fatal was to happen during his time in the battle. She lived in Gilberton; Walkerville South Australia and it was unknown whether any children were present in his life.
During the war
Raymond joined and enlisted to the army on February 17th in 1916 aged 23 but when he began his training, he was 24. He was given the regimental number 9674. Raymond was first appointed to the 2nd Depot Battalion A.I.F after he received a certificate from the commanding officer on the 23rd February 1916. However, this was soon changed and on the 1st April 1916 he was transferred to the 11th Field Engineers Australian Company and appointed the rank, driver. Each Division had three Field Engineering Battalions under the same commandment. The 3rd Division was part of the 9th, 10th, 11th Field Engineers Australian Company. His unit took part of a range of challenging tasks including, construction, buildings, bridges, preparations, tunnels, roads and maintained.
He embarked from Australia with his unit on the 31st May 1916, disembarking at Devonport 21st September 1916. On November the 24th he proceeded overseas to France. On the 1st December 1916, he was admitted to hospital for Pyrexia unknown origin and continued to stay in hospital until he caught influenza on 23rd December 1916. He then proceeded to leave on 31st December 1916.
From January 1917 to March 1918 his section served together as a whole. But from April 1918 onwards four sections were formed to divide up the chores in his unit. Raymond Spurr was placed in Section One which meant he and his section embarked and disembarked from many locations to fight, build, construct, and repeat. In April 1918 he helped the building and construction of the Battalion Headquarters along with other buildings and shelters.
Throughout his trainings and adventures, he was not just a driver of ambulances or cars, but he used construction and engineering equipment to his advantage. This included drills, pontoons which was a floating deck, pile drivers and more. All this equipment helped him become efficient at his rank and provide better assistance his unit. On the 23rd August 1918 he was promoted to Lance Corporal but was still a working driver and able to step in at any moment of conflict and when necessary. In the lead up to the attack on Mont St Quentin on the 31st August 1918 to 3rd September 1918. Raymond Spurr’s Battalion was required to carry out two river crossings and bridging operations. This took hard labour from all of his section to be able to achieve this, his section also helped out with mobility and construction.
He then continued to serve in his unit until the war finally ended and all the soldiers that survived could returned home to loved ones. He boarded a ship ‘Wahehe’ on the 10th May 1919 and was given the list number 272. He then embarked in South Australia in Australia on the 10th June 1919.
After the war
After the war Raymond Spurr survived the war and made it safely back home to his wife and no known children. He later received medals, the star which was awarded to soldiers who served from 5th August 1914 to 31st December 1915. The British war medal who was awarded to soldiers of the British and victory medal which was awarded to soldiers who entered to the theatre of the war on duty between 5th August 1914 to 11th November 1918. He then spends lots of times with loved ones and then eventually enlisted in what is presumed to be World War 2. He sadly pasted away on the 28th of July 1957 and was buried in Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia, Australia.
Bibliography
www.awm.gov.au. (n.d.). AWM4 Subclass 14/30 - 11th Field Company, Australian Engineers. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338963
National Archives of Australia. (1914). SPURR Raymond Upton Petro : Service Number - 9674 : Place of Birth - St Peters SA : Place of Enlistment - Adelaide SA : Next of Kin - (Mother) SPURR Vera F. [online] Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=11984460
vwma.org.au. (n.d.). Australian Soldiers, Memorials and Military History. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au
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