Australian war grave.

[tonyb]

Hello all,
was today walking through Widnes Borough Cemetery in Cheshire and stumbled across this grave.
Have looked up the Battalion on the internet ,they were formed six weeks after start of The Great War an saw service in Gallipoli, then France and Flanders in many of the famous named battles.
What I can't workout is why this casualty was buried in a Northern English cemetery. (Widnes was in Lancashire before the 1970's boundry changes.)
Can anyone shed any light on this please ?
Regards Tony.

[NEMO]

HI there good afternoon ,
Interesting photo thanks for showing.

It Is not uncommon to find the odd great war soldier burried in a UK grave yard but I think if I understand you your asking why would a member of the Australian forces be buried here ?


A large portion of the Australian armed forces were not infact natives of Australia many were English US Canadian European who had settled there before the start of he great war ,also there were Austalian armed forces recruiting offices In the UK in London Manchester Leeds etc so it was quite possible for a UK resident to join direct in to the A.I.F it was a better rate of pay and I believe they were promised a ` land grant ` in Australia at the wars end so it is posible your man was English and died at home from wounds /

How ever having checked Him out , his details are infact give as Australian

He may well have taken an English wife and died of wounds at home , or a local military hospital , was there one near you ?
To give you an example there are two WW2 Russian soldiers burried In a local grave yard near me both with Common wealth war grave head stones
Hope you find out more plus there are guys on the forum with much better knowledge of the Australian army who should be able to offer more , hope this helps ,Michael.

[magpie]

If you look up (CWGC.org) Eric Ernest Priestly and click on cemetery you will see that 101casualties are buried in widnes cemetary, a military hospital may have been near by in the war.He may also have had family in widnes.
Andy.

[badjez]

Having looked at the Australian War Memorial site 'mapping our anzacs' the only Priestly shown as having enrolled in the AIF is the following:-
PRIESTLY Alfred : Service Number - 6877 : Place of Birth - Lang Lang VIC : Place of Enlistment - Meeniyan VIC : Next of Kin - (Father) PRIESTLEY Alfred Turner.
He called himself a 'natural born' Australian, but someone has corrected that to read British.

I can recomend the site. It is searchable by location of residence upon enrollment or name and give access to their original records. I was surprised how many came from Gt Britain (and even Denmark apparently!)

Regards, Stephen.

[NEMO]

HI there , I too got the name ERIC EARNEST with same date of death not E.R as on the grave stone but i think it is the same guy ?

[tonyb]

Thanks,
to everyone so far for your guidance, have checked various sites suggested, really interesting .
Of the 101 casualties buried at Widnes, 56 are from the Great War from Regiments all over UK and Ireland including 15 to The South Lancs (local Regiment?.)
Am enjoying detective work.
Checked for Military Hospitals in Widnes area and ended up on site The Long Long Trail where I came across this;
Regards Tony.

[tonyb]

Have tried England census for both 1901 and 1911, with no joy so likely to be an Australian.
See if there are such documents available in Australia.
Tony

[BWEF]

Originally Posted by tonyb

Have tried England census for both 1901 and 1911, with no joy so likely to be an Australian.
See if there are such documents available in Australia.
Tony

Look at his AIF Attestation papers, scanned and available online - (National Archives of Australia). They ought to give his place of birth.

There also ought to be something on how he died. The last one I looked at was wounded at 3rd Ypres and died of wounds in a casualty clearing station, buried at Lijssenthoek in Belgium.

[PearlPriestly]

G-day Tony.

We discovered today 4.1.11 , that you found our Great Uncle Eric`s grave in the cemetery in Widnes. My son Eric and I were the first members of our family to visit Eric`s grave in 2007. I must admit that we were a bit shocked at his final resting place. Probably the ugliest cemetery I have ever seen.

Eric had served from August 1915 on Gallipoli , and then 3 years on the Western Front. He fought in all of the AIFs major actions (when not wounded) from the Somme July 1916 , until Villers-Britonouex in April 1918. Eric was WIA 4 times , inc 3 serious GSW , buried alive at Poziers , shell shocked during this wounding , he later contracted Trench Foot ( not classed as a wound ) at Flers in winter 1916/17. He was gassed at 2nd Bullecourt. He died from Gass Gangreen in June 1918 , after being hit by 3 mg bullets on Hill 104 , near Villers- Bretonoux.

Prior to enlistment Eric had been a dock labourer in Balmain Sydney , he was also a very capable Boxer. Other English have commented that he was small a 5'4" In 1915 he was taller than the average UK or French soldier. Eric joined on the day the 1st casualty lists were posted in Sydney. His actual adress was 13 Donelly Str Balmain.

Eric did not train in Egypt , but was sent direct to Gallipoli , for 13 days where he was shot in the neck attacking Hill 971. The film Gallipoli depicts this period , not the attack. The mini series ANZACs covers the rest of his war.

Eric is in Widnes because he married an English girl, Ellen . She being his legal NOK , defied his parents wishes for Eric to be buried in a military cemetery .

She also re married , then continued to use Eric`s name in order to imigrate to Australia , where she and her new man collected a War Widows pension until 1924 when my Great G Grandmother finally stopped this fraud. The sad thing is her new husband , had been a Scotish soldier. Ellen had served in France and knew the lot of a soldier , so collecting a false pension etc , show`s her character.

Ellen , also collected all of Eric`s medals etc in 1924. She had earlier returned them to the Army , so as not to be tracked down by the Tax Office. By 1924 the jig was up , and the medals etc , now claimed , were lost to our family.

Post 1924 Ellen disappears , via a new I.D. Last known local being Victoria. Aparently her UK family knows of Eric , but not her fraud or the fact she stole his medals , as after her new marriage Eric`s father was his NOK.

We intend to contact these people in the UK and ask if they have any information. If you wish to find out more , my e-mail is alpriestly@yahoo.com.au

Thank you very much for showing an interest in our Uncle Eric. He was a fine soldier , who could have used his Gallipoli GSW to come home. Eric`s brother , my G -G Grand Father was exempt from service as he was a foreman on the Sydney docks. In WW2 Uncle Bill Priestly was KIA 15.2.42 at the fall of Singapore. My Son Eric is serving in the RAN. I am about to apply.

Our ancestors left the UK in 1818/19. My Grandfather , had been as original Chartist. He was advised to , Shut Up , Keep up his Sedition and hang , or leave. Lucky for us he chose Australia , not the US !

Thank you once again. It is good to know that Eric is not alone , and that people such as yourself show an interest. The Headstone shows E R Priestly.
Eric`s middle name was Ernest.

Tony Priestly
17 National Park Rd
Nambour Qld Australia 4560.