William Ethelbert ABBOTT

ABBOTT, William Ethelbert

Service Number: 1412
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 2nd Machine Gun Battalion
Born: Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, Ireland, 1882
Home Town: Parramatta, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Planter
Died: Shell-Fire, Peronne, France, 3 October 1918
Cemetery: Prospect Hill Cemetery, Gouy
Grave reference: III. D. 20. INSCRIPTION FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH REVELATION 2.10 , Prospect Hill Cemetery, Gouy, Picardie, France
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour
Show Relationships

World War 1 Service

25 Jun 1915: Involvement Private, 1412, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: ''
25 Jun 1915: Embarked Private, 1412, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Sydney
3 Oct 1918: Involvement Private, 1412, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1412 awm_unit: 2nd Australian Machine Gun Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-10-03

Help us honour William Ethelbert Abbott's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon

 

2nd Bn.Australian Machine Gun Corps

He was 35 and the son of the late Rev. J. and Phoebe Abbott. of County Fermanagh, Ireland.

Address before emigration-Blacklion, Ireland

Age on arrival in Australia 27

Next of kin-Aunt, Mrs Mary Know, 'Killeshar', Westmead, Parramatta, New South Wales.

Previous military service
Served for 3 years in the Imperial Yeomanry, Northern Ireland.


Enlistment date 17 May 1915
Place of enlistment Liverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistment Private
Unit name-20th Battalion, D Company

Age at embarkation 32.

AWM Embarkation Roll number-23/37/5

Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A35 Berrima on 26 June 1915
Rank from Nominal Roll-Driver
Unit from Nominal Roll-2nd Machine Gun Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour Circular
Soldier listed place of birth as Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, Ireland; mother as Co Cavan, Ireland.

He is honoured on the Enniskillen War Memorial

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Proceeded from Egypt to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 16 August 1915.

Wounded in action, 13 December 1915 (shrapnel wound, head); admitted to 13th Casualty Clearing Station, Mudros, 14 December 1915. Transferred by hospital ship to Alexandria, 23 December 1915, and admitted to No 1 Auxiliary Hospital, Heliopolis. Rejoined unit, Tel el Kebir, 19 January 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 18 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 25 March 1916.

Attached to 5th Machine Gun Company, 23 July 1916; taken on strength, 5th Machine Gun Company, 18 December 1916; mustered as Driver, 1 May 1917.

On leave to United Kingdom, 15 February 1918; rejoined unit from leave, 7 March 1918.

 

Reverted to Private at own request, 28 June 1918.

NAA: B2455, ABBOTT William Ethelbert

Family/military connections
Stepbrothers: 509 Corporal Arthur Stewart KNOX, 12th Light Horse, returned to Australia, 30 August 1918 (died 1925);

4320 Pte Charles William KNOX, 29th Bn, killed in action, Polygon Wood, Belgium, 27 September 1917.

Read more...