Hans Mack
Name: Hans Mack
Rank: Private
Service Number: 4324
Units Served: 32nd Battalion
Personal Details:
Hans Mack was born in May 1891 in Burra, South Australia but attended Macclesfield School. He and his mother, Janet May, who had remarried, lived in Meningie, South Australia with her husband, Henry May and his 5 children, including Percival, who was also killed during World War 1. Hans was a groom. He was 5’ 10” tall, and weighed 127 lbs. He had a medium complexion, hazel eyes and dark hair.
Enlistment Details: He enlisted on the 22nd of September 1916 in Meningie into the 32nd Battalion of the Australian Infantry Forces.
Details about his role in War: He embarked Adelaide aboard the HMAT “Afric” on the 7th of November 1916, while aboard he fell sick and was admitted to the ships hospital on the 1st of January. Hans disembarked at Plymouth, England on the 9th of January 1917. On the 5th of April he proceeded overseas to France, he marched in on the 7th.
On the 1st of June Hans was admitted to casualty clearing with Dacrocystitis and was transferred to England on the 9th. Hans was discharged to duty on the 17th of August 1917. On the 24th of October he proceeded back to France. Hans was admitted to hospital with asthenia on the 24th of March 1918 and was sent to Boulogne where he was admitted to hospital with influenza. Hans was killed in action on the 24 of June 1918 when a High Exposive shell landed on a work detail of the 32nd battalion which was collecting supplies from a depot. 15 other soldiers of the 32nd Battalion were killed by this shell. Originally he was buried near Vaux-sur-Somme but after the war his body was exhumed and reburied in the Villers Brettoneux Military Cemetery.
Age at Death: 26
Memorial Details: Villers Bretonneux Military Cemetery in the Somme, France.
