S4885
OWEN, Egbert John
| Service Number: | 1797 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 August 1915, Served in Egypt & France |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 12th Field Ambulance |
| Born: | Port Pirie, South Australia, 13 April 1892 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Nailsworth Public School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Fireman with SAR |
| Died: | Prospect, South Australia, 10 February 1930, aged 37 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, South Australia Path 37 South, Plot 7686. His grave is unmarked |
| Memorials: | Glenelg and District WW1 & WW2 Honour Board, Quorn District Roll of Honor WW1 Board, Quorn Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1797, Served in Egypt & France | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 1797, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 1797, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Adelaide | |
| 3 Jan 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 12th Field Ambulance | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 1797 | |
| 5 Jul 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, 1797 |
Help us honour Egbert John Owen's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Paul Lemar
Egbert the son of John Griffith OWEN (Jack BACH) & Elizabeth Ann Jackson HUNTER and was born on the 13th of April 1892 in Pt Pirie, SA.
His father was the son of Captain Owen OWEN, of Nevin, North Wales and was born in 1864 in Nevin, North Wales.
His mother was the daughter of Thomas HUNTER and was born in 1864.
Egbert was the fourth child born into this family of 4 children; 3 boys and 1 girl.
Egbert’s father was employed by the South Australian Railways and by 1892 the family had moved to Pt Pirie.
They ten moved back to Adelaide and made their home at Vine Street, Prospect.
Egbert was on 4 years old when his father died on the 27th of October 1897 at their home in Vine Street, Prospect and they buried him in the North Road Cemetery.
Egbert attended his first day of schooling at the North Adelaide Primary School before transferring to Nailsworth on the 10th of April 1899.
His mother became very friendly with a painter, who lived in the same street, Henry George BICKFORD and she married Henry on the 9th of October 1900 in Glenelg, when she was 6 months pregnant.
Henry was the son of William Stonelake BICKFORD and was born in 1876 in Victoria.
Egbert then gained another sister; Georgina Elizabeth Mary, on the 26th of January 1901.
By 1902 they had moved to Gilbert Street in the city and Egbert attended the Sturt Street Primary School.
After completing his education Egbert gained employment as a fireman with the South Australian Railways in 1909 and then the family moved to 61 Chapel Street, Norwood.
His step-father suffered from a mental illness and was ordered into the Mental Hospital at Parkside in 1914.
Egbert’s brother Coulton enlisted into the 27th Battalion, 4th Reinforcement on the 2nd of June 1915 (2210). He embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT A15 Star of England on the 21st of September 1915.
At the age of 24 Egbert enlisted into the AIF on the 28th of August 1915 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 1797 and posted to C Company, 2nd Depot.
He listed his mother of 61 Chapel Street, Norwood, as his next of kin.
On the 1st of November he was posted to the 32nd Battalion, 2nd Reinforcement at Mitcham Camp.
With his embarkation impending, Egbert married Mabel DAVIDSON on the 17th of November 1915 in the Methodist Parsonage, Norwood, SA.
Mabel was the daughter of Peter DAVIDSON & Sarah Ann HARDING and was born on the 22nd of May 1891 in Broken Hill, NSW.
Egbert embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT A30 Borda on the 11th of January 1916, disembarking in Suez on the 9th of February. He was then taken on strength with the newly raised 48th Battalion on the 9th of March.
In August he was fighting at Pozieres and on the 4th of August 1916, not far from Egbert, his brother Coulton was killed in action near Bapaume Road, Pozieres.
Egbert was at Herissart on the 5th of September when his wife gave birth to their first child; Egbert John Gwen, in Quorn.
He was transferred to the 12th Australian Field Ambulance, attached to the 12th Brigade and after 3 years of service abroad Egbert embarked for Australia on the 16th of March 1919 and was then transhipped At Alexandria to the Dunluce Castle, disembarking in Adelaide on the morning of the 13th of May 1919.
He met his little boy for the very first time and then was discharged from the AIF on the 5th of July 1919.
They returned to Quorn and Egbert continued as a fireman for the railways.
They welcomed their next child; Colton Francis, on the 12th of September 1920, but sdaly, he only lived for 5 hours.
Their last child; Harold Wilfred, on the 2nd of October 1922 in Quorn.
Sadly, Mabel died of Pneumonia 6 weeks later at their home, on the 10th of November 1922 and Egbert buried her in the Quorn Cemetery.
Egbert was now a widow with a 6 year old son and a 6 week old infant.
Egbert was a member of the Quorn RSL Sub-Branch (S4885), but after Mabel’s death he relocated his young family to Adelaide.
Egbert then married Doris Hilda LYONS on the 29th of November 1924 in St Paul’s Church, Adelaide.
Doris was the daughter of John William LYONS & Lolo Ethel Maud VIVIAN and was born on the 1st of April 1903 in Adelaide, SA.
Gwenetta Lorraine was then born into the family on the 13th of January 1925 at Medindie, followed by Doris Betty on the 21st of March 1927, before they moved to Prospect.
Egbert died on the 10th of February 1930 at his residence, 35 Lower North Road, Prospect and was buried in the North Road Cemetery; Path 37 South, Plot 7686.
Canon E. H. Bleby conducted the burial service.
Egbert’s grave has never been marked and the site is still current.
Doris remarried to Albert Adolph PIETSCH on the 17th of March 1941. Albert was the son of Carl Reinhold PIETSCH & Martha Emilie NUSKE and was born on the 7th of July 1902 in Cambrai, SA.
Albert had enlisted into the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion on the 21st of June 1940. He embarked for the Middle East on the 10th of April 1941. On the 7th of March 1942 he was reported missing in action, later to be confirmed as a Japanese POW in Thai Camp, Burma.
Sadly he died from Malaria on the 2nd of August 1943 in the Thai Camp.
Military Service
At the age of 24 Egbert enlisted into the AIF on the 28th of August 1915 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 1797 and posted to C Company, 2nd Depot.
He listed his mother of 61 Chapel Street, Norwood, as his next of kin.
On the 1st of November he was posted to the 32nd Battalion, 2nd Reinforcement.
Egbert embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT A30 Borda on the 11th of January 1916, disembarking in Suez on the 9th of February.
He was then taken on strength with the newly raised 48th Battalion on the 9th of March.
Throughout March and April Egbert and the Battalion undertook training in the desert before being moved to Habieta in early May where they briefly manned defensive positions as a precaution against a possible Ottoman attack on the Suez Canal.
On the 1st of June, after a preliminary march to Serapeum, they moved by rail to Alexandria and boarded the troopship Caledonia, which sailed for France two days later. They docked at Marseilles on the 9th of June, after which they were moved to northern France by rail.
Their first major battle on the Western Front was Pozieres. Here, they were tasked with defending ground captured in earlier attacks by the 2nd Division and entered the firing line on two separate occasions; 5th to 7th and 12th to 15th of August. During the former period the battalion endured what was said to be heaviest artillery barrage ever experienced by Australian troops and they suffered 598 casualties.
Before they had recovered from the trials of Pozieres, they were also required to defend ground captured during the battle of Mouquet Farm and during this time Egbert was promoted to Lance Corporal.
They spent Christmas Day 1916 in Flesselles whilst resting at their billets.
On the 3rd of January 1917 Egbert was transferred to the 12th Australian Field Ambulance, who were located at the main dressing station at Becordel.
The 12th Field Ambulance was the Field Ambulance Company that nominally supported the 12th Brigade which comprised of the 45th, 46th, 47th & 48th Battalions.
Enduring the worst European winter in 40 years, they continued to take their turn at the front line, supporting the 12th Brigade, following the German’s withdrawal towards the Hindenburg Line.
Casualties would be hand carried - requiring at least four men but more like eight over any distance for each casualty. Hand carts were also used but rough ground generally meant stretchers.
A new defensive line was established further west and in early April they followed the Brigade in the attacked around Bullecourt, which lasted until the 16th of May.
By August they were located at Dranoutre and by September they had moved to Steenvoorde
Their next move was in October to Passchendaele where the 12th Brigade was advancing in this sector. The Germans managed a large counter attack here and the 12th Field Ambulance was inundated with over 1300 casualties.
On the 4th of November Egbert was admitted sick into the No.39 Stationary Hospital in Aire.
He rejoined his unit 3 weeks later.
Egbert and the 12th Field Ambulance remained with the 12th Brigade and continued to treat the sick, wounded and dying.
During the German spring offensive, the brigade fought a defensive action around Dernancourt and the final Allied offensive of the war, the Hundred Days Offensive, which was launched around Amiens in August and followed by a series of advances as the Allies broke through the Hindenburg Line.
Egbert was granted 2 weeks leave to England on the 23rd of October and whilst there he was admitted into the Roose Auxiliary Military Hospital in Barrow-in-Furness on the 4th of September, suffering from boils.
He was discharged after 2 weeks to No.1 Command Depot in Sutton Veny and then marched out to the AAMC Training Depot in Fovant. He then gained 2 more weeks leave, but this time to Paris.
Egbert embarked for Australia on the 16th of March 1919 and was then transhipped At Alexandria to the Dunluce Castle, disembarking in Adelaide on the morning of the 13th of May 1919.
Egbert was discharged from the AIF on the 5th of July 1919.