Russell George BOSISTO

Regimental number1038
Date of birth18 August 1893
Place of birthHindmarsh, South Australia
SchoolNorth Adelaide Public School, South Australia
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationBaker
AddressDutton Terrace, Medindie, South Australia
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21
Next of kinMother, Mrs E M Bosisto, Dutton Terrace, Medindie, South Australia
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date15 March 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll16 March 1915
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name27th Battalion, A Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/44/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A2 Geelong on 31 May 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll27th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularServed at Gallipoli until the evacuation.
FateKilled in Action 4 August 1916
Place of death or woundingSomme sector, France
Date of death4 August 1916
Age at death22
Age at death from cemetery records22
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian 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
109
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Commemorated in North Road Church of England Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia. Parents: Ernest and Annie BOSISTO, Dutton Terrace, Medindie, South Australia~
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Proceeded from Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Force at Gallipoli, 4 September 1915. Treated at 7th Field Ambulance, 16 November 1915; rejoined unit, 18 November 1915. Taken on strength, Army Corps Ammunition Park, 19 November 1915.

Disembarked at Alexandria from Mudros (evacuation from Gallipoli), 3 January 1916. Found guilty, 11 January 1916, of being absent from parade: awarded 3 days' confined to barracks. Transferred to 27th Bn, 31 January 1916. Found guilty of being absent from fatigue party and absent from parade, 21 February 1916: awarded 7 days' confined to camp.

Proceeded from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 15 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 21 March 1916. Admitted to hospital, Marseilles, 21 March 1916; discharged to duty, 9 May 1916, after 50 days' treatment for venereal disease. Rejoined Bn, 23 May 1916. Found guilty of breaking out of hospital at Marseilles and remaining absent for 6.45 hours on 8 May 1916: awarded 12 days' Field Punlishment No. 2. Found guilty, 22 July 1916, of being absent from tattoo without leave, and failing to obey an order in that he had liquor in camp: awarded 14 days' Field Punishment No. 2.

Reported missing in action, 4 August 1916; confirmed as killed in action. Body unearthed by a French farmer, 1998; reburied, July 1998.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal