James Joseph Lynch

Submitted by Mt Kembla Minin... on Tue, 08/12/2015 - 13:43

First Name:

James

Middle Name:

Joseph

Last Name:

Lynch

Mother's Name:

Alice Lynch nee Cain

Father's Name:

Thomas Lynch

Date Enlisted:

Tuesday, August 15, 1916

Rank at Enlistment:

Private

Rank at Discharge:

Private

Unit:

39th Battalion

Company:

Service:

Infantry

Awards:

British War Medal

Victory Medal

Date of Death:

Saturday, August 31, 1918

Place of Death:

Clery, France

Cause of Death:

Killed in action

Details:

James Lynch (Service No 2700) was born in Braidwood, N.S.W. in 1894.

When James enlisted he was single, 22 years old, and working as a labourer at Jervis Bay, N.S.W. James nominated his father who was living at Wollongong, N.S.W. as his next of kin.

James embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A24 Benalla with 5th Reinforcements, 39th Battalion on 9th November 1916. The troops arrived in England on 9th January 1917 and James joined his unit in France on 31st March 1917.

On 12th October 1917 James was wounded and admitted to hospital in France. There is no injury stated on his records, but James returned to his unit on 4th November 1917 and served on the Western Front until he was killed in action about 9am on 31st August 1918.

James Red Cross file reveals that while engaged in fighting as part of a Lewis Gun team near Clery-sur-Somme, a shell exploded and he was hit in the head by a piece of shrapnel and killed instantly. Another soldier, Private Freeland, was also killed.

The two men were buried where they died, but a fortnight later the bodies were removed and re-buried in Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension, France: Plot III, Row J, Grave 8.

Sources:

NAA: B2455, LYNCH JAMES JOSEPH