Joseph Herbert ANDERSON

ANDERSON, Joseph Herbert

Service Number: 3705
Enlisted: 16 August 1915
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 11th Infantry Battalion
Born: Miram, Victoria, Australia, 7 September 1889
Home Town: Dowerin, Dowerin, Western Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Died of wounds, France, 21 July 1916, aged 26 years
Cemetery: Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Wyalkatchem War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

16 Aug 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3705, 11th Infantry Battalion
22 Nov 1915: Involvement Private, 3705, 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: RMS Mongolia embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: ''
22 Nov 1915: Embarked Private, 3705, 11th Infantry Battalion, RMS Mongolia, Fremantle

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Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks

Joseph Anderson was the first of 3 Anderson brothers who enlisted. They were all born at Miram near Kaniva in Victoria but the family moved to Western Australia after the death of their father in 1900. Joe enlisted in August 1915 in the 11th Battalion, arriving in Egypt just as the ANZACs including the 11th Battalion were being evacuated from Gallipoli.  The battalion, and Joe, headed for the Western Front where it appears Joe was shot during the build up to the battle of Pozières. Joe was mortally wounded by gunfire and died of his wounds on 21 July 1916.  He was buried at the Military Cemetery at Warloy-Baillon.

His mother, Mrs. Margaret Anderson who had been widowed since 1900, submitted a personal inscription for his grave, two lines from the poem The English Flag by Rudyard Kipling: “Never the lotus closes, never the wild fowl wake, But a soul goes out on the East Wind that died for Britain’s sake.” It exceeded the permitted 66 letters and spaces; The inscription now reads: “Those who miss you loved you best.”

Joe’s brother, 4008 Leslie Anderson 32nd Battalion died of wounds on 15 April 1918, aged 26. A third brother, 2798 Pte Walter Raymond Anderson, 1st Imperial Camel Corps, returned to Australia, during July 1919.

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