The AIF Project

Arthur George CAMERON

Regimental number376
Place of birthEdinburgh, Scotland
SchoolPublic School, New South Wales
Age on arrival in Australia14
ReligionMethodist
OccupationLabourer
AddressSt Luke, Darling Point Road, Sydney, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21
Height5' 6.25"
Weight126 lbs
Next of kinFather, James George Cameron, Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date20 May 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll22 February 1915
Place of enlistmentLiverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name18th Battalion, A Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/35/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board Transport A40 Ceramic on 25 June 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll18th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 3 May 1917
Place of death or woundingBullecourt, France
Age at death from cemetery records23
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
85
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: James and Euphemia CAMERON, Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, New South Wales. Born in Scotland
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Proceeded to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 16 August 1915.

Wounded in action, Gallipoli, 22 August 1915, and admitted to No 16 Casualty Clearing Station, Anzac, 22 August 1915; transferred to Mudros, no date stated; to All Saints' Hospital, Malta, 28 August 1915; to St Andrew's Hospital, Malta, 31 August 1915; discharged to Spinola Camp, Malta, 15 November 1915.

Embarked for Egypt, 2 December 1915.

Rejoined 'A' Company, 18th Bn, Tel el Kebir, 10 January 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 17 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 23 March 1916.

Admitted to No 2 Australian Field Ambulance, 28 July 1916 (conjunctivitis); transferred to No 26 General Hospital, Etaples, 29 July 1916; to No 6 Convalescent Camp, 5 August 1916; to No 5 Convalescent Camp, 13 August 1916; marched into 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 10 September 1916.

Rejoined 18th Bn, 21 September 1916.

Killed in action, 3 May 1917.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, CAMERON Arthur George

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