The AIF Project

John James PURCELL

Regimental number2655
Place of birthLilydale, Victoria
SchoolBrighton Road State School, Balaclava, Victoria
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLabourer
AddressBulla, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation25
Height5' 8"
Weight147 lbs
Next of kinC Purcell, 4 Gibb Street, Balaclava, Victoria
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date26 June 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name8th Battalion, 8th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/25/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board SS Makarini on 15 September 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll60th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 19 July 1916
Age at death from cemetery records27
Place of burial'Y' Farm Military Cemetery (Row D, Grave No 63), Bois-Grenier, France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
170
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: John and Christina PURCELL, 7 Morton Street, Essendon, Victoria
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Joined 8th Bn, Gallipoli, 7 December 1915.

Disembarked Alexandria, 7 January 1916 (general Gallipoli evacuation).

Transferred to, and taken on strength of, 60th Bn, Tel el Kebir, 24 February 1916.

Tried by Field General Court Martial, Tel el Kebir, 13 March 1916, on charge of absenting himself without leave, in that he, at Tel el Kebir, absented himself without leave from tattooon 27 Fewbruary till Reveille on 2 March 1916: pleaded Guilty; found Guilty: awarded 56 days' Field Punishment No 2, and forfeited 5 days' pay.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 18 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 29 June 1916.

Reported Missing, 19 July 1916.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 4 August 1917, pronounced fate as 'Killed in Action, 19 July 1916'.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, PURCELL John James

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