| Regimental number | 336 |
| Place of birth | Euchareena, New South Wales |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Occupation | Railway employee |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 25 |
| Next of kin | Father, H Priest, PO, Euchareena, New South Wales |
| Previous military service | Nil |
| Enlistment date | |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 2nd Battalion, C Company |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/19/1 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board Transport A23 Suffolk on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Lance Sergeant |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 2nd Battalion |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 29 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 7), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 34 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Henry and Margaret PRIEST. Native of Euchareena, New South Wales |
| Family/military connections | Brother: 539 Lance Corporal Albert PRIEST, 3rd Machine Gun Bn, returned to Australia, 16 January 1919. |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front Embarked from Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 5 April 1915. Disembarked Alexandria, 28 December 1915 (general Gallipoli evacuation). Appointed Lance Corporal, Serapeum, 15 February 1916. Embarked from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 22 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 28 March 1916. Wounded in action, France, 15 June 1916 (bullet wound, right leg); transferred to England, 20 June 1916, and admitted to Chatham Military Hospital, Kent. Transferred to No. 1 Command Depot, Perham Downs, 13 July 1916; to 1st Training Bn, Perham Downs, 1 August 1916. Proceeded overseas to France, 5 September 1916; rejoined Bn, 18 September 1916. Promoted Corporal, 26 October 1916. On command to 1st NSW Training Bn, England, 27 October 1916. Promoted Acting Sergeant, 12 January 1917. Proceeded overseas to France, 3 May 1917. Reverted to rank of Corporal, 4 May 1917. Rejoined Bn, 10 May 1917. Promoted Lance Sergeant, 21 June 1917. Killed in action, Belgium, 20 September 1917. Buried. Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
