Jim Anderson

Jim Anderson

Personal Information
Date of Birth	Not known
Place of Birth	Dunedin, New Zealand
Death	5 Mar 1917
Place of Death	Trones Wood, Guillemont, France
Age at Enlistment	39 years, 5 months
Description	5'9" (1.75m) tall ; 170lbs 77.111 kg ; ruddy complexion ; blue eyes ; light brown hair
Occupation	Shed hand
Religion	Church of England
Address	NOK Subiaco, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother , Mrs Edith Ellen Anderson
Military Information
Reg Number	2366
Date of Enlistment	31 Mar 1916
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	51st Battalion, 5th Reinforcement, transferred to 32nd Battalion
Date of Embarkation	20 Sep 1916 ‒ 15 Nov 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A66 Uganda
Fate	Killed in Action 5 Mar 1917
Monument	Gosnells War Memorial Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll Villers-Bretonneux Memorial Australian War Memorial
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

Following basic training in Western Australia, Jim was allocated to the 5th reinforcement draft for the 51st Battalion and travelled with them to England.

On arrival in England he spent the bar minimum time in training before proceeding overseas through Folkestone to France on 28 Dec 1916 aboard HMT Princesse Clementine. While attached to the 4th Australian Base Depot in Étaples he was admitted to the 20th General Hospital at Camiers from 6-9 Jan 1917.

On 24 Feb 1917 he was taken on strength by the 32nd Battalion. On 5 Mar 1917 the 32nd Battalion was holding the line near Trones Wood, west of Guillemont, north of the Somme River. They had been sporadically shelled all day by the enemy, and an intense bombardment that lasted for an hour during twilight. As there is no known grave for Jim it is reasonable to conclude that he was a victim of the enemy shelling, with the unit's War Diary making o other mention of hostile enemy action for that day.

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  Villers-Bretonneux Memorial
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  Names on 32nd Battalion panel

Notes

One of several options to match the Gosnells War Memorial and Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll entries. The others being 1001 WO2 James Anderson MSM of Fremantle; 3006 Sgt John Thomas Anderson of Welshpool; and 323 Joseph Anderson of Fremantle (sailor).