English casualty 12th Australian Light Horse

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Just wanted to share a recent acquisition to a Surrey man who was killed in action at the Battle of Beersheba serving with the 12th Australian Light Horse.

These pieces came directly from the Family of L/Cpl 316 Cecil Thomas Hills who died of his wounds on 3rd November 1917 and who is buried in the Beersheba Military Cemetry.

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The inside.

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The rear.

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A family memorial card.

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Inside.

And here's his service record from the Australian records office.

Quite some service I think you'll agree.service record link

[Guest Rick Research]

That is a VERY interesting war grave photo/folder-- suggesting that this was done for anybody who asked-- maybe someplace in the Australian War Archives there are negatives for ALL such graves?

My "Australian" great uncle Karl (who was a Swedish subject) was killed with 50th Bn A.I.F. in France in 1918, but some moron removed his paybook and personal effects (including a U.S.-issued neutral merchant seaman's photo ID pass from earlier in the war) so his body was "lost" and remains "grave unknown" although his pocket contents are all sitting in the Australian War Archives to this day. ,

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Not sure if it was asked for or just sent as a matter of course, the folder contains more than one photo suggesting they could be distributed to other family members and the fact the folder states the nearest railway station makes you wonder if it was sent to next of kin so they could visit the grave if they wished. Probably an impossibility though for someone after the Great War.

I have to say the Australian records website is great though, easy to use and no charge for digital access to any records they have.

Interestingly it appears they still have his death plaque and his family are considering requesting this although I dont know if it would still be released.

[John Callcut]

Just wanted to share a recent acquisition to a Surrey man who was killed in action at the Battle of Beersheba serving with the 12th Australian Light Horse.

These pieces came directly from the Family of L/Cpl 316 Cecil Thomas Hills who died of his wounds on 3rd November 1917 and who is buried in the Beersheba Military Cemetry.

[Tony]

That is fantastic.

Strangely enough, every item I've had to do with the AIF belonged to an Englishman whose family went there at around the turn of the century.

A great item and something I'd love to have.

Tony

[Michael Johnson]

The turn of the century saw a wave of emigration from the U.K. My great-grandfather came over to Canada in 1898. A large percentage of the CEF was British-born. That is why Canadian medals , Memorial Crosses and plaques turn up frequently there. Australia would have been no different.

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I would like to thank new member John Callcut for this newspaper obituary photograph of C T Hills, the subject of this post. Welcome to this excellent forum John and good luck with your research. :cheers:

[vanman11]

I would like to thank new member John Callcut for this newspaper obituary photograph of C T Hills, the subject of this post. Welcome to this excellent forum John and good luck with your research.

Hi All - I know this post is very old now, but Cecil Thomas Hills is actually my Great Grandfather's (Alfred Arthur Hills) brother. I'm interested to know 1) how you have sourced the service record (I am fairly new to this)? and 2) Does anyone else on this blog have any relation to Cecil

Thanks!

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Hello Vanman, sorry for the delay in replying to your questions.

The Australian National Archives are available on line through this link Australian archives[/url

Its all self explanatory and user friendly imho. Welcome to the forum by the way

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I ll try again with that link as it dos'mt seem to have worked, if not just goggle National Australian Archives and you'll find there homepage.

link