Ernest McKain Torr (1891 - 1916)

Born 24 Apr 1891 in Wairoa, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Ancestors

Died 29 Jul 1916 at age 25 in Poizieres

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Biography

Ernest Torr Image 1

Ernest was the son of John Torr and Charlotte Lewis.

World War I

Ernest enlisted in the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force on 24 May 2015 in Queensland

• Private Ernest Torr
• Service number 1712

• Final Rank Private

Active Service Record ^[1]

• 23 October 2015 He was admitted with Mumps in the port town of Mudros on the Greek Island of Lemnos
• 4 November 2015 Discharged to duty Class "A"
• 6 November 2015 Admitted to Rest Camp
• 14 November 2014 Transferred to Unit
• 17 November 2015: He was "taken on strength of Battalion" on the Gallipoli Peninsula
• 9 January 2016 Arrived in Alexandria Egypt
• 5 February 2016 Ernest was absent without leave from the Australian Imperial Force training camp in Tell-el kebir, on the edge of the Egyptian desert. He was "awarded" 96 hours. According to Wikipedia 40000 Australian camped in a tent city described by one soldier, Ernest George King as "a very dirty little place with a few dirty shops in it".^[2]
• 15 March 1916 he proceeded to join BEE in Alexandria and embarked fro France
• 21 March 1916 Disembarked in Marseilles.

Ernest was killed in the early hours of 29 July 1916 in the battle around the Windmill site outside the village of Pozières, France. His body was not retrieved. He is memorialised at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France. ^[3] His name is located at panel 109 in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Casualty Form - Active Service Army Form B 103
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_El_Kebir
3. ↑ AWM145 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Army
4. ↑ https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1670448