The AIF Project

Edwin John SILCOCK

Regimental number3103
Place of birthToora, Victoria
SchoolToora State School, Victoria
ReligionMethodist
OccupationFarmer
AddressToora, Victoria
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation25
Height5' 6"
Weight141 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs Ruth Victoria Grace Silcock, 'Clevelands', Toora, Victoria
Previous military serviceNil.
Enlistment date10 October 1916
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name57th Battalion, 8th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/74/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A7 Medic on 16 December 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll57th Battalion
Fate4 July 1918
Place of death or woundingVille-Sur-Ancre, France
Age at death26
Age at death from cemetery records26
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
164
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: William and Emily SILCOCK; husband of R.V. SILCOCK
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Melbourne, 16 December 1916; disembarked Plymouth, England, 18 February 1917, and admitted to Military Hospital, Devonport, the same day; discharged 21 March 1917; marched into No 1 Command Depot, Perham Downs, 22 March 1917.

Marched into 15th Training Bn, Hurdcott, 26 March 1917.

Proceeded overseas to France, 17 October 1917; marched into 3rd Australian Divisional Base Depot, Le Havre, 18 October 1917.

Proceeded to unit, 21 October 1917; taken on strength of 57th Bn, 28 October 1917.

To Corps School, 17 January 1918.

Admitted to No 1 New Zealand Field Ambulance, 4 February 1918 (pyrexia of unknown origin); transferred to No 63 Casualty Clearing Station, 4 February 1918; discharged to Corps School, 12 February 1918.

Rejoined 57th Bn (whilst at Corps School), 23 March 1918.

Killed in action, 4 July 1918.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, SILCOCK Edwin John

Print format    


© The AIF Project 2024, UNSW Canberra. Not to be reproduced without permission.