Regimental number | 4356 |
Place of birth | Pimpma, Queensland |
School | State School, Queensland |
Religion | Presbyterian |
Occupation | Tram conductor |
Address | Annerley Road, Wooloongabba, Brisbane, Queensland |
Marital status | Married |
Age at embarkation | 40 |
Height | 5' 6.75" |
Weight | 130 lbs |
Next of kin | Wife, Mrs Louisa Lightbody, King Street, Thompsons Estate, Brisbane, Queensland |
Previous military service | Nil |
Enlistment date | |
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll | |
Place of enlistment | Brisbane, Queensland |
Rank on enlistment | Acting Corporal |
Unit name | 26th Battalion, 11th Reinforcement |
AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/43/3 |
Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A16 Star Of Victoria on |
Rank from Nominal Roll | Corporal |
Unit from Nominal Roll | 26th Battalion |
Fate | Killed in Action |
Place of death or wounding | Pozieres, Somme Sector, France |
Age at death | 41 |
Age at death from cemetery records | 41 |
Place of burial | Ovillers Military Cemetery (Plot XVI, Row P, Grave No 7), France |
Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 108 |
Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: William and Louisa LIGHTBODY, King Street, Thompson Estate, South Brisbane, Queensland; Wife: Louisa LIGHTBODY King Street, Thompson Estate, South Brisbane, Queensland |
Other details |
War service: Egypt, Western Front Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 30 May 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France (date not recorded); marched in to 2nd Australian Division Base Depot, Etaples, 9 June 1916. Appointed Acting Sergeant with pay, 24 June 1916. Taken on strength, 26th Bn, in the field, 2 August 1916, and automatically reverted to Private. Appointed Temporary Corporal, 4 October 1916. Reported Missing in Action, 14 November 1916. Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 29 June 1917, pronounced fate as 'Killed in Action, 14 November 1916'. Statement, Red Cross File No 1600607, 4449 Pte James KENNEDY, B Company, 26th Bn (patient, Brondesbury Park Military Hospital, London NW, England), 14 November 1916: 'I saw Lightbody in a shell hole at Flers wounded in the leg, about 20 yards from the German trenches. This is about as close as we got to the trenches that day. We retired, again in the afternoon we attacked and retired again. The Germans came out that night and took some of our wounded away, so I think Lightbody is a prisoner of War.' Second statement, 4457 Pte R.S. LETTS, 26 Bn (patient, 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, England), 21 February 1917: 'He was hit by a bullet in the stomach. It happened at Flers on Nov. 5th. He was just over our line, and we could see him, but it was impossible to get to him on account of the heavy shelling. He was terribly wounded, and I doubt if he could have lived had he been brought in. We could not see him when we went over on Nov. 14th.' Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal Originally listed as 'No known grave', and name inscribed on the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux. The remains of an unknown soldier were found in a grave in 1936 in the vicinity of Eaucourt l'Abbaye, France; when the remains were exhumed and reburied, the discovery of an identity disc showed that the remains were those of Cpl Lightbody. |
Sources | NAA: B2455, LIGHTBODY Joseph
Red Cross File No 1600607 |