| Regimental number | 4595 |
| Place of birth | London, England |
| Place of birth | Mile End, London, England |
| True Name | ZIMMER, James |
| School | London County Council School, Rutland Street, London E, England |
| Other training | Evening classes under the London Postal Service. |
| Age on arrival in Australia | 20 |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Occupation | Labourer |
| Address | Port Hedland, Western Australia |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 23.6 |
| Height | 5' 4.5" |
| Weight | 143 lbs |
| Next of kin | Cousin, H Searcy, 88 King's Street, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Previous military service | Nil (previously rejected for enlistment in England on account of eyesight) |
| Enlistment date | |
| Place of enlistment | Blackboy Hill, Western Australia |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 16th Battalion, 14th Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/33/3 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A28 Miltiades on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Sergeant |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 48th Battalion |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 147 |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Western Front Embarked Fremantle, 12 February 1916; disembarked Suez, 11 March 1916. Taken on strength, 48th Bn, Serapeum, 2 April 1916. Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 2 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 9 June 1916. Appointed Lance Corporal, 11 September 1916. Promoted Temporary Corporal, 17 March 1917. Promoted Corporal, 28 May 1917. Admitted to New Zealand Stationary Hospital, 4 June 1917, and transferred same day to 7th Convalescent Depot, Boulogne (not yet diagnosed); transferred to 39th General Hospital, Havre, 6 June 1917; discharged to Base Depot, 27 July 1917; total period of treatment for venereal disease: 57 days; rejoined Bn, in the field, 6 September 1917. Promoted Sergeant, 9 October 1917. Wounded in action, 12 October 1917. Court of Enquiry, 8 April 1918, concluded: 'Killed in action, in the field, Belgium, 12 October 1917'. Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal |
| Sources | NAA: B2455, DAVIS James |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
