Regimental number | 5048 |
Place of birth | Baroota, South Australia |
School | Wagin State School, Western Australia |
Religion | Church of England |
Occupation | Farm labourer |
Address | Wagin, Western Australia |
Marital status | Single |
Age at embarkation | 21 |
Next of kin | Father, A Aird, Wagin, Western Australia |
Previous military service | Served in the Senior Cadets (1 year) and in the Australian Light Horse, Citizen Military Forces (3 years). |
Enlistment date | |
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll | |
Place of enlistment | Blackboy Hill, Western Australia |
Rank on enlistment | Private |
Unit name | 16th Battalion, 16th Reinforcement |
AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/33/3 |
Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A9 Shropshire on |
Rank from Nominal Roll | Private |
Unit from Nominal Roll | 48th Battalion |
Fate | Killed in Action |
Place of death or wounding | Pozieres, Somme Sector, France |
Date of death | |
Age at death | 21.10 |
Age at death from cemetery records | 21 |
Place of burial | No known grave |
Commemoration details | Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy. The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra. On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours. After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns. |
Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 145 |
Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Albert Hall and Christina AIRD |
Family/military connections | Cousins and brother-in-law served. |
Other details |
War service: Egypt, Western Front Embarked Fremantle, 31 March 1916; marched in to 4th Training Bn, Tel el Kebir, 24 April 1916. Admitted to hospital, 2 May 1916 (no further details recorded). Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 7 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 14 June 1916. Taken on strength, 48th Bn, in the field, 13 August 1916. Reported missing in action, 13 August 1916; Court of Enquiry, 4 May 1917, confirmed killed in action, 13 August 1916. Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal |