NAME:  Cyril Thomas Brackley ILES               

SERVICE NO:  2388

YEAR OF BIRTH:  1890

PLACE OF BIRTH:  Hamilton

DATE OF ENLISTMENT: 12 July 1915

PLACE OF ENLISTMENT:  Melbourne

AGE AT ENLISTMENT:  25

UNIT: 23rd Battalion

EMBARKED:  29 September 1915

TROOPSHIP:  HMAT RMS Osterley

FATE:  Killed in Action – 4 August 1916 – Pozieres, France

Cyril Iles was born in Hamilton in 1890 to Thomas John Iles and Sarah Brand.  The family lived in Carmichael Street and Thomas worked at the post office as a letter sorter.

By 1914, Cyril was working as a law clerk in Melbourne and living at 350 High Street, Windsor with his parents.  Thomas had transferred from the Hamilton Post Office to the GPO in Melbourne after 1909.  

On 12 July 1915, Cyril enlisted with the 23rd Battalion and departed on 29 September. After only a few months in Egypt, Cyril moved with the 23rd Battalion to France, arriving on 26 March 1916. The 23rd made their way to the Western Front, and it was during the period of the Battle of Pozieres, that Cyril Iles was killed on a heavy day of fighting at the Windmill on 4 August.

Five years after his death, Cyril’s family posted an “In Memorium” notice in The Argus.  Around it were the tributes to many other men also killed on 4 August 1916.

A tree was planted for Cyril along Hamilton’s Anzac Avenue in 1917 and he is remembered on the Honour Roll of the Prahran RSL.

ONLINE RESOURCES

Australians on the Western Front 1914-1918 – The Windmill, Pozieres – 23rd Battalion

Australian War Memorial – 23rd Battalion

Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour – Cyril Thomas Brackley Iles

Australian War Memorial – WW1 Embarkation Rolls – Cyril Thomas Brackley Iles

Battle of Pozieres – Australian War Memorial

Discovering Anzacs – WW1 War Service Record – Cyril Thomas Brackley Iles

Newspaper Articles – Trove Australia – Cyril Thomas Brackley Iles

The AIF Project – Cyril Thomas Brackley Iles