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Samuel James Corby - Information

Samuel left for his great war adventure on the 31st of March 1916 on the HMAT Star of Victoria, sailing from Sydney. He was born in Picton to Jane and William Corby. Leaving his family in Yarra near Goulburn, he relocated to Warwick in Queensland. He then volunteered in Warwick on the 15th of November 1915 just before his 19th birthday, with his parents’ permission. He was posted to the 11th Reinforcements, 25th Battalion as a Private.

Samuel landed in Egypt and was subsequently shipped to the Western Front in early May 1916. He joined his unit at the beginning of August, as they were engaged in horrific fighting at Pozières during the Somme Campaign. Samuel was lucky to make it through unscathed. While resting out of action up north, Samuel reported sick with sore feet on the 1st of September. He returned to duty in February 1917. However, he was consistently plagued with ill health. In mid March, he was suffering with bronchitis and reported to hospital. He was released in July, however, was back in for appendicitis in late September. Samuel returned to his unit on the 20th of October. At the time, the 25th Battalion were undertaking operations during the Third Battle of Ypres in Belgium. Just 11 days after reuniting with his unit, Samuel was wounded in action on the 31st. He was hit with heavy shelling, receiving shrapnel into his side and breathing in a bout of gas. He was cared for behind the lines, and was invalided to England in mid November to a hospital in Colchester. He recovered from his injuries, enjoying a nice reprieve from life in the trenches. In March 1918, Samuel departed Southampton to return to France, reuniting with his unit a month later. At the time, they were struggling with the German March Offensive and the many attacks and counter attacks that ensued. Once the Germans were stopped in their tracks, the Allies then began using small tactical squads to push the Germans back. Samuel was resultantly wounded a second time on the 25th of May, receiving blunt force trauma to his chest. He was rushed to hospital in Rouen for treatment. Unfortunately, there was much internal damage, and in August, he was evacuated to England to the 2nd London General Hospital in Chelsea. In early November, he was transferred to the Australian Provost Corps. On the 10th of February 1919, Samuel was then promoted to Extra Regimental 2nd Corporal. A little more than a week later, he left for duty in Cape Town, South Africa. Here, Samuel worked in the quarantine section at the AIF Isolation Camp. Later in the year, he was transferred to the AIF Depot for duty. On the 31st of October, he left South Africa onboard the Benalla with his new wife, bound for Australia.