The AIF Project

James CAMERON

Regimental number4116
Place of birthForrest, Scotland
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationLabourer
AddressReid River near Townsville, Queensland
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation28
Height5' 6"
Weight148 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Margaret Cameron, Reid River near Townsville, Queensland
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date27 September 1915
Place of enlistmentTownsville, Queensland
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name26th Battalion, 10th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/43/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A73 Commonwealth on 28 March 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll26th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularEnlisted 27 September 1915 - 26th Bn 10th Reinforcemtns; taken on stength 26th Bn 28 Septmebr 1916; wounded at Flers 15 November 1916.
FateKilled in Action 3 May 1917
Place of death or woundingBullecourt, France
Age at death29
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
107
Family/military connectionsBrother: 4115 Pte Donald CAMERON, 26th Bn, died of wounds, 17 July 1918.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Embarked Alexandria, Egypt, 1 June 1916.

Found guilty, 7th Training Bn, Rollestone, England, of overstaying leave from midnight, 23 June 1916, until noon, 26 June 1916: awarded 2 days' confined to camp, and forfeits 3 days' pay by Royal Warrant.

Proceeded overseas to France, 9 September 1916; marched into 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 11 September 1916.

Proceeded to unit, 28 September 1916; taken on strength of 26th Bn, in the field, 28 September 1916.

Wounded in action, 15 November 1916, and admitted to No 5 Australian Field Ambulance the same day (shrapnel wound, hand); transferred to Corps Rest Station, no date stated; rejoined unit, 22 November 1916.

Attached to 7th Trench Mortar Battery, 13 December 1916; rejoined unit, 22 December 1916.

Admitted to No 5 Australian Field Ambulance, 30 December 1916, and transferred to No 15 Australian Field Ambulance the same day (dental); discharged, 5 January 1917; rejoined unit, 7 January 1917.

Reported missing in action, 3 May 1917.

Court of Enquiry, held in field, 8 December 1917, pronounces fate as 'Killed in Action, 3 May 1917'.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, CAMERON James

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