CHAPMAN, Percy Wellesley
| Service Number: | 1008 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 March 1915, Liverpool, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 55th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glen Innes, New South Wales, Australia, December 1886 |
| Home Town: | Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Wolaroi House, Orange, The Armidale School, Hawkesbury College |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Bernafay Wood, France, 12 March 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Bernafay Wood British Cemetery, Montauban Row J, Grave 42 |
| Memorials: | Armidale School War Memorial Gates, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Richmond University of Western Sydney WW1 Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1008, Liverpool, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Jun 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1008, 1st Light Horse Regiment, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Clan MacEwen embarkation_ship_number: A65 public_note: '' | |
| 28 Jun 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1008, 1st Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Clan MacEwen, Sydney | |
| 12 Jan 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1008, 1st Infantry Battalion, from 1st Light Horse Regiment | |
| 28 Jan 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry Battalion, Tel-el-Kebir | |
| 13 Feb 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 55th Infantry Battalion | |
| 16 Jul 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 55th Infantry Battalion | |
| 20 Jul 1916: | Honoured Military Cross, Fromelles (Fleurbaix) | |
| 11 Nov 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Captain, 55th Infantry Battalion | |
| 12 Mar 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, 55th Infantry Battalion, German Withdrawal to Hindenburg Line and Outpost Villages, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 55th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Captain awm_died_date: 1917-03-12 |
Capt Percy Wellesley CHAPMAN MC
From: In Remembrance: Hungerford and Associated Families in the Great War 1914-1918
Capt Percy Wellesley CHAPMAN MC
Regimental Number: 1008
Unit Name on Enlistment: 1st Light Horse Regiment, 6th Reinforcement
Religion: Church of England
Occupation: Student
Address: South Hill, Goulburn, NSW
Age at Enlistment: 28 years and 3 months
Enlistment Date and Place: 9 March 1915, Liverpool, NSW
Next of Kin: Father, Archibald Wellesley Chapman, South Hill, Goulburn, NSW
Rank on Enlistment: Private
Embarkation Details: Unit embarked from Sydney, NSW, on board HMAT A65 Clan McEwen, on 28 June 1915. He travelled on the same ship and the same day as George William Johnston (E.7.5a.2b=).
Rank from Nominal Roll: Captain
Unit from Nominal Roll: 55th Battalion
Campaigns Served: Gallipoli; France
War Service: He left Australia as a trooper with the 6th Reinforcement of 1st Light Horse Regiment in June 1915; served in Gallipoli for 8 weeks, and was recommended for commission. Reached France as 2nd Lieutenant in 55th Battalion June 1916. Awarded the Military Cross at Battle of Fleurbaix (battle now known as Fromelles); wounded October 1916; reached the front again December 1916, and made Captain on his return. Percy was reported missing 12 March 1917 in the advance to Bapaume, France. His body was found 3 days later near German lines.
Promotions: 2nd Lieutenant Unit INF 55, 28 January 1916; Lieutenant Unit INF 55, 16 July 1916
Fate: Killed in Action, 12 March 1917
Place of Death: Near Bapaume, France. The position of the town of Bapaume is a crossing point between Artois and the plains of Flanders on the one hand and the valley of the Somme and the Paris basin on the other. At the beginning of 1917 victory seemed nowhere in sight. However for a while, from late February, hopes were lifted. Along the Somme front line and elsewhere, the Germans began to withdraw several kilometres to their newly-developed defensive zone which the British dubbed 'the Hindenburg Line'. This apparent retreat was a tonic for the allies who advanced in pursuit. But it was an illusion; the Germans were just staging a voluntary withdrawal to stronger and better prepared positions. It was against these solid defenses at a point near the village of Bullecourt that four Australian divisions, one after the other, were thrown during April and May 1917.
Place of Burial: Bernafay Wood, British Cemetery, Montauban, France. Row J, Grave 42
Medals/Citations: Military Cross;
1914/15 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal
Citation for Military Cross: 'For conspicuous gallantry during an action. He repeatedly led bombing attacks along the enemy's trenches and fought them back long enough to enable many of our wounded to reach safety'. Source: Commonwealth Gazette No. 184, (Date: 14 December 1916). His father received his effects 11 May 1918, Victory Medal 24 January 1923, and Memorial Plaque 12 December 1923.
War Memorial/Honour Roll: Panel Number Roll of Honour Australian War Memorial -160; Goulburn World War I Memorial Tower and Honour Roll, Memorial Road, Goulburn, NSW
Submitted 22 July 2019 by Evan Evans
Biography contributed by Elizabeth Allen
Percy Wellesley CHAPMAN was born in Glen Innes, New South Wales in 1886
His parents were Archibald Wellesley CHAPMAN & Gertrude Elizaeth SPASSHATT who married in NSW in 1884 (registered in Armidale)
He was killed in action in France on 12th March, 1917 and is buried in the Bernafay Wood British Cemetery and his name is memorialised on the Australian War Memorial
Inscription on his headstone reads "OUR BELOVED SON"
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
PERCEY WELLESLEY CHAPMAN (28.11.1686 — 12.3.1917)
Called Bob
Born Glen Innes and lived at Orange. His father was AM. Chapman. year from July:1903 to June 1904. 1st XI, Private in Cadets, Form V Maths Prize After leaving school he went to Hawkesbury Agricultural College from July 1904 to December 1906. There he obtained a Certificate for “best on piggery" 1905 and also "received recognition from the Water Supply Board for services rendered in saving their property from bush fires". In August 1910 The Hawkesbury Agricultural College Journal recorded he was at Crecy Farm of 400 acres at Forbes. "It is not a model farm yet, but has hopes to make it so in a few years. Eighty acres are being cropped while another eighty are under fallow. He has been batching most of the time since leaving the College and has mastered the art of cooking; an art which produces many leathery dampers before it is acquired” In 1911 he was with AE. Bigg at "Thalgarrah", Armidale.
Enlisted at Goulburn 9.3.1915
Served in the 12th Reinforcement, Australian Light Horse and 55th Battalion A.I.F. and became a Captain. He was awarded the M.C. "On the occasion when he was awarded Military Cross, he is officially spoken of as having shown great calm and great gallantry, and undaunted spirit and as having saved many casualties”. The official citation for his M.C. Is "For conspicuous gallantry during an action. He repeatedly led bombing attacks along the enemy's trenches and fought them back long enough to enable many of our wounded to reach safety." He wrote from Egypt after returning from Gallipoli "I will never forget my birthday on Gallipoli. I started out on patrol work in the early morning at about half—past 12 o'clock and got back at dawn. There was a cut in my boot and the snow got in and made my foot throb for some days. I was one of the lucky eight picked out of our squadron to stay in the trench after the rest had evacuated”. C.E.W. Bean calls him "one of the gentlest of men" and tells how he and Capt Gibbins helped a German “dreadfully wounded, bathed in blood and almost senseless. They led him, but when Chapman let go one of his hands the poor-mangled brute got up on his knees and started to pray” (Vol. 3 p.431n). Bill Gammage quotes this and 2 other entries from Chapman’s diary including this entry on 7.12.1916 "I really don't know why I want so much to get back to the Front. When I think of the slush and cold over there I shiver, and yet I am a jolly side happier over there than here ... what I really want to carry about with me is a clear conscience - that I have found Is better than a cosy billet and a warn fire". Killed in France aged 30. The circumstances of his death were that "he was leading his men at the time, having stepped into the place of his senior officer, who was killed in the same charge."
Buried France 400 Bernafay Wood British Cemetery Montauban.
Obituary: "The remarks made by the officers who had to do with him, show him to have been a most exceptional officer, very much beloved by all he came into contact with.” Memorial His name is on the fountain in Armidale Central Park, in the Armidale Memorial Library and in the Memorial Hall at Hawkesbury Agricultural College.
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