Ernest Edward Lockhart

ERNEST EDWARD LOCKHART

Rank: Private

Service Number: 2676

Units Served: 16th Battalion

Personal Details: Born in Blakeville, Victoria to John and Rosanna Lockhart, Ernest Edward Lockhart was one of eight children, three boys and five girls. He had grey eyes and fair hair; he was a labourer by trade
Enlistment Details: Midway through 1915 Ernest enlisted at the age of nineteen, at Blackboy Hill Western Australia, with a letter of recommendation from his parents.

Details about his role in War: On the 18th of October 1915 he embarked to join his unit, the sixteenth Battalion, which was the same one that William Taylor was in, serving under Sir Birdwood.
On the 24th he was taken on strength and made a permanent part of the Battalion, and then on the 30th of December they disembarked at Alexandria.
He was taken off field by field ambulance due to influenza on the 27th of February and admitted to a hospital in Ismalla on the 27th he stayed there until the 3rd of March when he was discharged, the next day he re-joined his unit.
Then on the 1st of June his Battalion joined to fight with the British Expeditionary Forces in Alexandria, then nine days later he disembarked in Marseilles
On the 10th on August 1916 he received a gunshot wound to the head while serving in France at the Battle Mouquet Farm; he managed to last two more days in hospital before he was pronounced dead.

Age at Death: Twenty

Cemetery or Memorial Details: Buried at - Puchevillers British Cemetery, France

Interesting Material: Ernest was enrolled in the same battalion as my other soldier William Taylor who served under Sir Birdwood, this is interesting as in the years to come Ernest’s brother would marry into the family that my aunty marries into and William’s sister will then become my grandmother on my mother side, and Sir Birdwood will have the town of Blumberg named after him where I now live.