Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Army
- Conflict
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Date of Enlistment
- 14/11/1915
- Place of Enlistment
- Goulburn NSW
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Date of Birth
- 12/10/1895
- Place of Birth
- Queanbeyan NSW
- Address (at enlistment)
- Sutton Road, Reedy Creek ACT
- Occupation
- Blacksmith
- Next of Kin
- George Roffe (father), Reedy Creek ACT
- Burial Place
Heilly Station Cemetery, France
Unit and Rank Details
- Service Number
- 5759
- Final Rank
- Private
- Final Unit
- 1 Battalion AIF
Fate
Died of wounds on 12 January 1917, France
Commemoration
World War 1 Memorial, corner of Lowe St and Farrer Place, Queanbeyan NSW
Queanbeyan RSL Wall of Remembrance, Crawford St, Queanbeyan NSW
Queanbeyan Methodist Church Roll of Honour
Notes
Ernie Roffe was the younger brother of Bertie Roffe, a blacksmith and a member of the local rifle club. He embarked from Sydney in June 1916 but was admitted to hospital with a hernia when he arrived in England in August 1916. Upon release he joined the 1st Battalion in December 1916 in the trenches near Gueudecourt, north of Flers. On 3 January 1917 he was wounded in action, receiving a gun shot wound to the left buttock. He was admitted to the 38th Casualty Clearing Station but died from his wounds on 12 January 1917. Roffe was buried at Heilly Station Cemetery, 2½ miles NNE of Corbie. An eyewitness said that Roffe "was wounded in the lower part of the body at Guedecourt while in supports. I saw three or four bullet wounds from M.G. fire". Another eyewitness said that it was Roffe's first visit to the front line.
Description - height 5 feet 8 inches, weight 125 pounds, chest 33 inches, dark complexion, hazel eyes, light brown hair, Methodist, scar on the top left index finger.
Sources
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980
Our Queanbeyan 'Boys' No.2, Howard & Shearsby, Yass (postcard)
AWM Roll of Honour Circular
AWM Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Files
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)