Ernest Kirkham (1874 - 1917)

Born 1874 in Cleveland street, Redfern, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Edith Marian (Boudet) Butler — married 27 Feb 1900 (to 8 Jul 1917) in Sydney, NSW, Australia

Descendants

Died 8 Jul 1917 at about age 43 in France

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Ernest Kirkham is an Anzac who served in World War One.

Biography

Ernest was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 4 Apr 1874, the son of Robert Henry Kirkham and Eliza (Allum) Kirkham.^[1]

Ernest married Edith M Boudet in Sydney, New South Wales, on 27 Feb 1900.^[2]

Ernest Kirkham was a carpenter who enlisted in the 5th reinforcements of the 3rd battalion of Australian Imperial Force on the 14th of January 1915. His service number was 1981.

Kirkham departed Australia on the 13th of April 1915 with the 6th reinforcements of the 3rd battalion. He was one of the few who survived the landing at Gallipoli and was wounded by shrapnel in both legs at the battle of Lone Pine on the 6th of August 1916.

He was evacuated and treated, but returned to his unit to serve in Gallipoli until he returned to hospital for abscesses in his left thigh. Ernest was then returned to his unit. He was evacuated from Gallipoli on 3 of January 1916 and admitted to Cairo hospital on 9 January 1916 for a bullet wound to the leg, returning to his unit on the 11th of March.

Shortly after on the 29th of March he was transferred to the 13th battallion and went to France on the 8th of June 1916. He was lightly wounded in the face in February 1917 and later moved to the Etaples Hospital on the 2nd of March. After rejoining his unit he contracted Diptheria and was evacuated to England.

After treatment left England for Belgium and returned to his unit on on 21 June 1917. On 7th July 1917, near Bailleul he was shot in the head (Jess Kirkham asserts he was shot by a German sniper). He was evacuated and eventually died of wounds at the 2nd Australian Casualty clearing station on the 8th of July 1917. His rank at death was Lance-Corporal. He is buried at the Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Plot 1, row U, No. 24.

His nephew "Eddie" Kirkham was also killed in France.

Ernest was a deeply religious and highly moral man who saw the war as his honorable duty. Somewhere in France he wrote to his wife that he saw the the war as punishment for the "wickedness" of his fellow combatants. In the same letter he confided his belief that his wife would be strong enough to carry on with the family should he not return from the war. "It is a relief to me to know that if I don't come back again you will carry on so sensibly. I am very well pleased with all you have done and I can only say I am proud of your behavior."

Sources

1. ↑ New South Wales Family History - Births, Deaths and Marriages Search (https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search : 23 Aug 2022) Birth registration # 1079/1874
   KIRKHAM Ernest, Father: Robert, Mother: Eliza, District: Sydney, Date: 4 Apr 1874.
2. ↑ New South Wales Family History - Births, Deaths and Marriages Search (https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search : 23 Aug 2022) Marriage registration # 607/1900
   Groom: KIRKHAM Ernest, Bride: BOUDET Edith M, District: Sydney, Date: 27 Feb 1900

• Australian war memorial Roll of Honour, http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7370512