ANTROBUS, Ernest
| Service Number: | 1915 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 January 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 13th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Elton, near Ince, Chester, England, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Overton |
| Occupation: | Wheelwright |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 21 August 1915, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Lone Pine Memorial, Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 13th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Apr 1915: | Involvement Private, 1915, 13th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Kyarra embarkation_ship_number: A55 public_note: '' | |
| 13 Apr 1915: | Embarked Private, 1915, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kyarra, Sydney | |
| 21 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1915, 13th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
Ernest ANTROBUS, (Service Number 1915) was born on 11 November 1882 at Elton, Cheshire, UK, and he went to school in Overton, Cheshire, where his parents were living at the time. In 1905 he married Annie Garner and they had a son, Samuel Ernest Antrobus. In 1911 Ernest migrated to Australia. No further information can be found about Annie, but in the 1911 British Census, 5-year-old Samuel was recorded as living with his maternal grandparents in Overton, Cheshire.
Ernest joined the NSWGR&T on 24 February 1913 as a Carriage Builder (Temporary) in the Locomotive Branch at Eveleigh. On 1 March 1914 his position was made permanent, and on 19 January 1915 he was released to join the AIF.
He enlisted at the rank of Private (Service No. 1915) and was assigned to the 5th Reinforcement to the 13th Battalion. In his Attestation Papers he gave his trade as ‘Wheelwright and coach builder’, and he stated he had undertaken a 6-year apprenticeship in Overton, Cheshire. He also stated he had spent three years in the 2nd Cheshire Territorials. He further stated he was not married and nominated as his next of kin his mother, Mrs Hannah White of Ince, Cheshire.
AIF records show he joined the 13th Battalion in Gallipoli from Alexandria in Egypt on 13 July 1915. On 23 August 1915 he was reported as missing in action. From reports tendered at a Court of Enquiry held in 1916, this happened after a charge at Hill 60, Anzac, on 21 August 1915. Two witnesses from Pioneer Company 7 of the 13th Battalion stated they ‘saw him fall on a ridge just behind where the Company had dug in, which was at Herring’s Post. His body was not recovered as it was impossible to recover bodies on the ridge because it was constantly being swept with bullets. He was not heard of again’. Another witness stated Ernest was among a group of men when a shell burst among them, killing or wounding them all, and setting the gorse on fire so that anyone who survived the initial explosion would have been burnt to death in the resulting fire. The finding of the Court of Enquiry was that he had been killed in action on 21 August 1915. He is commemorated at the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey. His place of association on the Honour Roll of Australia is given as Sydney.
After Ernest was killed in action a claim was made for a pension for his son Samuel and this was approved. The amount to be paid was 20 shillings per fortnight, starting on 30 April 1917 and finishing on 26 December 1921. The nominated trustee was Ellen Garner, Samuel’s maternal grandmother. A similar claim made by Ernest’s mother, Hannah White, was refused.
(NAA B2455-3034355
Submitted 9 May 2023 by John Oakes