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BATES, Michael
| Service Number: | 5040 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sunderland, United Kingdom, April 1891 |
| Home Town: | Gawler, Gawler, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | 6 January 1958, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
AIF Cemetery, West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia Section: KO, Road: 13A, Site No: 4 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Commissioner of Public Works Roll of Honour, Gawler Council Gawler Men Who Answered the Call WW1 Roll of Honor, Glenelg and District WW1 & WW2 Honour Board, Manoora Pictorial Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5040, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Mar 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 5040, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 5040, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Shropshire, Adelaide | |
| 8 Nov 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 5040, 10th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Michael Bates's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College
Life Before the War
Michael Bates was one of the 416,809 Australian soldiers who were involved in the First World War. He was born in Sunderland, England in 1891, and moved to Gawler, South Australia before enlisting in the war. His closest family members included his parents named Colin and Barbara, and his uncle that lived in South Shields, England. Bates’s religious denomination was Methodist and he worked as a labourer. Prior to joining World War One, he participated in three months of home service, which was a small defence force in Australia. Two years after signing up in the war, Michael was wed to Winifred Smith Bates, though they did not have any children. His closest friend, Ernest Pritchard, lived in Victoria Terrace in Glenelg and looked out for Bates constantly throughout the war, even contacting those in charge when Bates became wounded or ill.
Life in Service
Michael Bates enlisted in the War on the 6th of January, 1916. He embarked aboard the troopship HMAT Euripides at Adelaide, South Australia on the 25th of March, 1916. He proceeded overseas to join the 10th Battalion in the Battle of Flanders in France and arrived on the 23rd of August, 1916.
On the 8th of November 1916 Michael received a shell wound in the left shoulder and right hand. As a result of these injuries, he was administered to the R. Vic. Netley, or Royal Victoria Netley Hospital, on the 26th of December with multiple gunshot wounds. After three months, he was relocated to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital with wounds in the shoulder, hand, and thigh.
After the War
Bates embarked to return to Australia at the Australian Red Cross and he was discharged on the 13th of August, 1917, as he was physically unfit to continue fighting. Whilst recovering at the Australian Red Cross, his closest friend, Ernest Pritchard, wrote a letter to ensure that ‘Mick’, as he nicknamed him, was doing well.
Bates received the British war medal in 1921 for serving in World War One. He died at Springfield Bank at the age of 67, in 1958, with the cause of death unknown. His place of burial remains at the AIF cemetery, the West Terrace cemetery, in Adelaide today. The memorials held for this soldier are as follows: the Gawler HB1 WW1, Glenelg HB1 WW1 and WW2 Glenelg and District and the Manoora HB2- WW1 Pictorial Honour Roll.
Websites used:
- https://www.genealogysa.org.au/index.php?option=com_search&Itemid=32
- https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3056851&isAv=N
- https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1236009
- http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-asstd/abbreviations.htm
- https://www.qaranc.co.uk/netleyhospital.php
- https://www.visitflanders.com/en/themes/flanders_fields/history/
- https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51450
- https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/battle-of-passchendaele-third-ypres
- https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/303574
- https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3056851&S=1
- http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/sarcib/SRG76_1_2228.pdf
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