Private Sidney Claude Percival Lane

9^th Australian Infantry Battalion

 

Service Number:                              5411

Place of Enlistment:                        Lismore

Age of Enlistment:                          19 Years 8 months

Date of Enlistment:                         4^th of October 1915

Embarked:                                       Sydney, 20^th of April 1916

Transport Ship:                               HMAT SS Hawkes Bay

Medals Awarded:                            British War Medal, Victory Medal

Place of Death:                               Died of Wounds, Battle of Pozieres France 22^nd of August 1916

Resting Place:                                Buried Warloy Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension Plot 7 Row D Grave 15 France

Unit Badge:                                     9^th Australian Infantry Battalion AIF

 

Additional Information:

The 9^th Battalion was stationed on the line at Pozieres as part of the 1916 Somme offensive from the 19^th to the 23^rd of August 1916. On the 20^th of August 1916 Private Lane was wounded by shell fire with shrapnel causing compound fractures in both of his legs. He died from his wounds 2 days later in the care of the 13^th Australian Field Ambulance.

The 9^th Battalion suffered from repeated German shelling during this battle. Conditions for the troops were poor, with the ad hoc trench system leaving them exposed to shellfire. Total casualties for the Battalion were 27 Killed, 125 wounded and 12 missing. Pozieres was the most costly battle of the First World War for Australian forces, the AIF sustained 23,000 casualties over a 45 day period for minimal gains.