Claude Francis Cooper
From Our Contribution
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| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth |
Not known "Not known" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation. |
| Place of Birth | Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Death | 1930 |
| Place of Death | Randwick, New South Wales |
| Age at Enlistment | 19 years old |
| Description |
6' 2" (1.88m) tall ; 128 lbs 58.06 kg ; medium complexion ; blue eyes ; dark brown hair |
| Occupation | Grocer |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Address | Main street, Beenup, Western Australia |
| Next of Kin | Mother , Mrs Elizabeth Burnside |
| Military Information | |
| Reg Number | 388 & R5352 |
| Date of Enlistment | 19 Oct 1914 & 1 Jan 1916 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit/Formation | 10th Light Horse Regiment, C Squadron / ANZAC Mounted Division / 5th Battalion, 18th Reinforcement / 2nd Brigade, 1st Division |
| Date of Embarkation | 17 Feb 1915 ‒ 21 Mar 1915 |
| Ship Embarked On | HMAT A52 Surada to Port Suez |
| Date of Embarkation | 3 Jul 1916 ‒ 2 Sep 1916 |
| Ship Embarked On | HMAT A33 Ayrshire |
| Date of Return | 5 Jul 1915 ‒ 6 Aug 1915 |
| Ship Returned On | HMAT A70 Ballarat |
| Date of Return | 12 May 1919 ‒ 21 Jun 1919 |
| Ship Returned On | SS Soudan |
| Fate |
Returned to Australia (medical) Wounded in Action 23 Apr 1917 Lagnicourt area Returned to Australia |
| Monument | none at present |
| Medals |
1914-15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal |
Pre War
Pre war service for 18 months with the 25th Light Horse Regiment. Claude enlisted the first time in Guildford, Western Australia, and the second time in Broadmeadows, Victoria. A Beenup resident before his first enlistment.
War Service
Initial set of documents relating to service with 10th Light Horse are largely missing, although it is known that he was a trooper who on enlistment was allocated to the 10th Light Horse Regiment. In Egypt he suffered with VD, spending time in the Abbassia Hospital (Egypt) in Jun 1915 before returning to Australia.
Returned to Melbourne where, after recovering his health, he re-enlisted on 1 Jan 1916 at the Broadmeadows camp. On 31 May 1916 he was attached to the 20th reinforcement draft for the 5th Battalion, before being transferred to the 18th reinforcement draft on 20 Jun 1916. Re-embarked from Victoria for service in Europe.
Within a fortnight of arrival in England he proceeded to France, but not before enjoying a brief period AWOL.
He joined the 5th Battalion on 1 Oct 1916 along with 147 other reinforcements in a rest area near Ypres. Wounded on 23 Apr 1917, probably by a shell which also killed another soldier as they were the battalion's only casualties for the day.
Spent very little time with his Battalion after receiving a wound to his right buttock. (e.g. WIA 23 Apr 1917, but doesn't rejoin unit until 17 Nov 1917.) On 27 Dec 1917 he was back in England, admitted to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital being treated for VD and it is not until 9 Mar 1918 that he was discharged from hospital (50 days ineffective).
In England on 31 Jul 1918 he was charged with being AWOL for 4 days, and soon after is again in 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital from 8 - 26 Aug 1918 being treated for VD (19 days).
Eventually returned to France via Folkestone on 29 Aug 1918, 16 months after being wounded at Lagnicourt. Remained with his unit until his return to Australia.
Discharged 5th Military District 13 Aug 1919.
Post War
Electoral Roll entries - 1922 living in the Star Hotel Brome, working as a shell opener; in 1925 is Darlinghurst, NSW; 1930 unemployed, living at 163 Broughton street, West Darlinghurst, NSW. NSW BDMs has a death entry for 1930 in the Randwick district
Notes