confirmed
Born: 1 January 1885
Died: 19 July 1916
A 29 year old labourer prior to enlistment on 25 July 1915, he embarked for overseas with the 11th Reinforcements from Sydney aboard HMAT Euripides on 2 November 1915. After transferring to the 53rd Battalion, he was killed in action on 19 July 1916 at Fromelles, France on the same day and at the same place as his brother, 4887 Pte Eric Robert Wilson. After the war his grave could not be located and he was commemorated on the VC Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles. In 2008 a burial ground was located at Pheasant Wood, France containing the bodies of 250 British and Australian soldiers including Privates Samuel and Eric Wilson. All of the remains were reburied in the newly created Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. At the time of the official dedication of the new cemetery on 19 July 2010, ninety-six of the Australians, including Privates Samuel and Eric Wilson, had been identified through a combination of anthropological, archaeological, historical and DNA information. Work is continuing on identifying the other remains relocated from the burial ground and buried in the new cemetery as unknown soldiers.
Source: AWM
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