James Breuer 1910

Scholarship winner Mechanical Drawing and Elementary Maths

James Breuer who won scholarships in 1910 for both Mechanical Drawing and Elementary Math's enlisted to serve his country with the armed forces when he was twenty years old.  His brother-in-law was an officer in the army and James joined his battalion in France.  On their first manoeuvre at Passchendaele Ridge he was killed along with hundreds of other young men that same night.  The battles at Passchendaele in Belgium represented the last resistance on the Western Front before the Allied forces final advance to victory.

James’s name is listed on the Tyne Cot Memorial which is between Passchendaele (now known as Passendale) and Zonnebeke along with other names of those who have no known grave. His name is also listed on the Midland War Memorial as one of the local sons who never returned.

This very poignant extract records the event of his death in his mother’s diary.

For his parents the loss of their son’s life through fighting in Australia’s armed services was a particularly bitter pill to swallow. His father, who was originally from Germany had taken out Australian citizenship and had been working at the Railway Workshops, but when war broke out he was immediately stood down from his job. After the war his father refused to return to his former position and earned his living as a handy man.

Australian wounded infantrymen at the first battle of Passchendaele, near Zonnebele railway station.
AWM E01202 

Thanks to Bill Pearson and Betty Havercroft  who provided information for this story

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