WESTON, Norman Douglas
| Service Number: | 1635 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 March 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 22nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cassilis, Victoria, Australia, 1897 |
| Home Town: | Omeo, East Gippsland, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Havelock, Marlborough, New Zealand, 22 July 1980, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Havelock, Cemetery Marlborough, New Zealand RSA Lawn Division, Block 0, Row 4, Plot 11 |
| Memorials: | Tongio Bindi and Nugong Schools Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1635, 22nd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 1635, 22nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 28 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 1635, 22nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Melbourne |
Help us honour Norman Douglas Weston's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
“the Germans near Brind’s Road were within bombing range and were not so easily defeated. Their grenades scattered some Victorians digging near the flank; but a private of the 22nd, named O’Neill, collected a party to bomb them back. Finding that the enemy nest was farther than they themselves could throw, the men raised a call for “Omeo,” a youngster, Lance-Corporal Weston from the township of that name in Victoria, and a thrower of repute. He came along, glanced at the enemy position, decided that he could not reach it from the trench, and jumped upon the parados. He was leaning back to hurl his grenade when a sniper’s bullet hit him in the face, knocking out an eye. Still clutching the live bomb, with the eye hanging on his cheek, he fell forward into the trench among half-a-dozen men. “For God’s sake, George, take this bomb,” he said to O’Neill. “The pin’s out!” He then fainted, but not before O’Neill had seized the missile and hurled it safely clear of the trench.
Bean- Volume III – The Australian Imperial Force in France, 1916, The Taking and Holding of the Pozieres Heights, page 696.
“Omeo” Weston was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Russian Cross of St George, Third Class for the above action. He was returned to Australia on 19 October 1916, due to the loss of his right eye.
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