Ernest Herbert Campbell COCKBURN

COCKBURN, Ernest Herbert Campbell

Service Number: 366
Enlisted: 26 April 1916
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 40th Infantry Battalion
Born: Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 14 July 1892
Home Town: Gympie, Queensland
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: French Polisher
Died: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 4 July 1961, aged 68 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Not yet discovered
Memorials: Childers Doolbi & Horton Honour Board, Maryborough City Hall Honour Roll
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World War 1 Service

26 Apr 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 366, 7th Machine Gun Company
19 Sep 1916: Involvement Private, 366, 7th Machine Gun Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Commonwealth embarkation_ship_number: A73 public_note: ''
19 Sep 1916: Embarked Private, 366, 7th Machine Gun Company, HMAT Commonwealth, Melbourne
16 Jun 1917: Transferred Private, 10th Machine Gun Company
30 Aug 1917: Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 40th Infantry Battalion
28 Mar 1918: Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 366, 40th Infantry Battalion, Boulogne, France
11 Dec 1918: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 366, 40th Infantry Battalion, per Saxon to Broadmeadows
25 Mar 1919: Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 366, 40th Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Ernest was the seventh of eight children of James Charles Cockburn (born 1850 in Ayrshire, Scotland) and Ann Charlotte Francis (born 1853 in Woolongong, NSW). James, a Blacksmith, arrived in Brisbane QLD in 1862 where  he and Ann married in 1877. The family moved to Gympie, QLD in 1890.

Ernest was a French Polisher in Maryborough, QLD and had been with the State School Cadets for 6 years when he first enlisted in the AIF with 9th Battalion as a Private (Service No: 834). This enlistment was shortlived and Ernest was Discharged as Medically Unfit. Ernest enlisted for the second time in 1916 and served initially with 5/7th Machine Gun Coy as a Private (Service No: 366). He was with the 40th Infantry Battalion in 1918 when he was WIA at Boulogne in France (GSW to his chest), and was Discharged in 1919.

Ernest's younger brother - Sydney James - served with the AIF as a Sapper(Service no: 1845A).

Ernest returned to Maryborough, working as a French Polisher and in September 1919 married Kathleen Emma Terea Saunders (born 1892 in NSW). Ernest and Kathleen settled in Brisbane, QLD where Ernest continued working as a French Polisher. He died in 1961

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