Josiah James Skinner

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Josiah James Skinner

Ancestry.com
Personal Information
Date of Birth	21 Mar 1891
Place of Birth	Sutton, Surrey, England
Death	28 Apr 1985, aged 94
Place of Death	Mosman Park, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	23 years, 5 months
Description	5'8" (1.73m) tall ; 137lbs 62.142 kg ; fair complexion ; blue eyes ; brown hair
Occupation	Clerk
Religion	Church of England
Address	'Ebbisham' Wimbledon street, Beckenham, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father , Mr A C Skinner
Military Information
Reg Number	3078
Date of Enlistment	17 Aug 1914
Rank	Bombardier
Unit/Formation	Divisional Ammunition Column reinforcements (Sep-Oct 1914)
Date of Embarkation	31 Oct 1914 ‒ 5 Dec 1914
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A7 Medic embarked 26th, sailed 31st
Date of Return	15 Feb 1918 ‒ 8 Apr 1918
Ship Returned On	SS Llanstephan Castle
Fate	WIA 29 Sep 1917 Steenvoorde, France Returned to Australia
Monument	Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll
Medals	1914-15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

Electoral Roll entry: 1916 Wimbledon street, Cannington, civil servant.

War Service

One of the earliest to enlist, Josiah was allocated to the 4th Section of the 1st Division Ammunition Column, and travelled with the first fleet to Egypt. Soon after arrival in Egypt, on 19 Dec 1914 he was promoted to Acting Bombardier. On 30 Apr 1915 he was sent to Gallipoli where the rank of Bombardier was confirmed on 28 Sep 1915.

On 19 Mar 1916 back in Egypt after the Gallipoli campaign he was transferred to the No. 1 Section at Zietoun, before proceeding to France from Alexandria on 26 Mar 1916. arriving in Marseilles on 3 Apr 1916. On arrival in France he was posted to the 1st Division's Base Depot where he was made Acting Corporal with extra duty pay. On 21 Aug 1916 Josiah's Regimental No was altered with the addition of the letter 'A' when he was transferred to the 5th Division Ammunition Column. From 27 Sep till 6 Oct 1916 Josiah enjoy some Special Leave. He was transferred again on 26 Oct 1916, this time to the 14th Field Artillery Brigade, which then allocated him to the 53rd Battery. He reverted to Gunner at the time of his transfer, before being promoted Bombardier on 7 Jan 1917. From 8 Apr until 5 May 1917 Josiah attended a School of Instruction, afterwards being promoted Acting Corporal on 5 Aug 1917. Josiah was granted leave in the UK from 16 - 30 Aug 1917.

Wounded in action on 30 Sep 1917 when the unit lost 7 KIA and 21 WIA near Ouderzeele near Steenvoorde, he was treated by the 14th Field Ambulance and the 10th Casualty Clearing Station on 1 Oct 1917, the later placing him on an Ambulance Train for Boulogne for some plastic surgery, and there he was admitted to the 53rd General Hospital for several days before being evacuated to England on 13 Oct 1917. On 14 Oct 1917 he was admitted to Queen Mary's Military Hospital in Whalley with a slight gun shot wound to both his thighs and penis.

Josiah had reverted to his substantive rank of Bombardier on evacuation to hospital. Released to 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital on 31 Dec 1917, before being discharged from hospital on 7 Jan 1918 when he was transferred to No. 2 Command Depot in Weymouth to be sent back to Australia as he was declared unfit or service for more than 6 months. Admitted to the 8th Australian General Hospital in Fremantle on 9 Apr 1918, he was discharge from hospital on 31 May 1918 and discharged from the AIF by the 5th Military District on 14 Jun 1918.

Post War

On 24 Dec 1921 Josiah married Margery Cumming (1895 - 1948). In 1934 Josiah and Margery at different address in West Perth. Remarried in 1946 to Rose Dvoretsky (Dec 1901 - 17 Sep 1979)

Electoral Roll entries: 1921 Wimbledon street, Cannington; 1925 at 6 Thelma street, West Perth with Margery, accountant; 1931 -1934 at 36 Mount street, West Perth by himself, accountant; 1943 at 46 Mount street, West Perth, manager; 1949 - 1977 with Rose at 40 Mount street, West Perth, manager; 1980 at 5/2 Bellevue terrace, West Perth, retired