Corporal Sydney Charles Dubout

See Notes (2)

Sydney⁽⁶⁾ was born at Bacchus Marsh, VIC in 1888 to Charles Edward Dubout⁽¹⁾ and Alice Whitbourn. He married Nellie Templeton in 1916 and had at least one child, Nellie, born in Bacchus Marsh in 1920. He has a brother, Vere, who is also remembered in the Avenue.

Sydney was a farmer and gave his address as Sunshine, VIC when he enlisted in the AIF on the 4^th of January 1916, aged almost 29. He embarked aboard the HMAT A69 Warilda with the 1^st Reinforcements, No. 5 Tunnelling Company as a 2^nd Corporal at the end of May.

Upon disembarking at Plymouth, England, Sydney was admitted to hospital, before proceeding overseas to France and joining the 1^st Entrenching Battalion in mid October 1916. Ten days later he was attached to the 1^st Canadian Tunnelling Company. In December he was admitted to hospital with phthisia and not long after transferred to hospital in England - bronchitis. In mid February 1917 Sydney was discharged to furlough and proceeded back to France in early June where he was attached to the 2^nd Australian Tunnelling Company. In September he transferred to the 2^nd Pioneer Battalion and was promoted to Corporal. In March 1918 he was admitted to the 1^st Australian Casualty Clearing Station with a tumor to the right side - discharged to furlough in UK three days later. In May he was again admitted to hospital, in France - lymphoma chest. After rejoining his unit in mid June, Sydney received a gunshot wound to the hand in July and was evacuated back to England and admitted to the Red Cross Hospital, Winchester.

Discharged from hospital to furlough in August 1918 he embarked for Australia aboard the City of Exeter in January 1919, returning to Australia in March and was discharged from the AIF in April - medically unfit, gunshot wound to the left hand.

Sydney died in NSW in 1937. When a post mortem revealed he died of cancer the Department of Repatriation declined to grant his widow a full pension and the RSL took up her case with the Minister. Another post mortem was carried out by a specialist which revealed cancer was not the only cause. The full pension was then granted⁽⁴⁾⁽⁵⁾.

He is listed on the Shire of Bacchus Marsh Roll of Honour and the Bacchus Marsh & District Roll of Honour.

Notes

1. Charles Dubout's father settled in Glenmore in the mid 1850s.
   For more information, see the Bacchus Marsh Heritage Guide, The Mount, page 136, published by the Bacchus Marsh Historical Society.
2. He started with the 5^th Australian Tunnelling Company but later transferred to the 2^nd Pioneer Battalion
3. Pioneer battalions differed from normal infantry in that they would be composed of a mixture of men who were experienced with picks and shovels and some who had skilled trades . A Pioneer battalion would also carry a range of technical stores that infantry would not.
4. Canberra Times July 14 1938
5. The Singleton Argus October 17 1938
6. His name is given as Charles Sidney in the Bacchus Marsh Heritage Guide, The Mount, page 136, published by the Bacchus Marsh Historical Society.

Location of Tree Number S084

Tree Position (accuracy ±1 tree) -37.68048395790837, 144.45689939457728

Related Links

• Timeline
• Nominal Roll
• Embarkation Roll
• Embarkation Roll
• Service Records
• Unit Diaries - 1^st ANZAC Entrenching Battalion
• Unit Diaries - 2^nd Pioneer Battalion

Last updated by lee, Sat, 28 Aug 2021 11:37:38