Portrait of 3120 Corporal Norman Max Pontin, a labourer from Richmond, Vic. Norman Pontin joined ...

Portrait of 3120 Corporal Norman Max Pontin, a labourer from Richmond, Vic. Norman Pontin joined the AIF in Melbourne on 12 April 1915 and sailed as a Corporal with the 10th Reinforcements to the 14th Battalion on board HMAT Port Lincoln (A17) from Melbourne on 16 October 1915. After he arrived in Egypt he reverted to Private, joined the 14th Battalion on 4 February 1916 at Ismailia and was then transferred to the 46th Battalion on 3 March 1916 at Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt. After his battalion arrived in France he was wounded in action on 5 August 1916 in Sausage Valley, about 100 yards from the La Boisselle [Lochnagar] mine crater, and evacuated to England for treatment. After recovering from his wounds he left England on 14 February 1917 and re-joined his unit in France. His records indicated he was a Sergeant (Sgt) when he returned to France although it is likely he was promoted earlier. The 26th Battalion was in action at Bullecourt and on 11 April 1917 when Sgt Pontin was posted as missing. In a statement by 3039 Sgt T P Hanrahan of the 46th Battalion recorded on 28 September 1917, he stated Sgt Pontin was "very seriously wounded" after the unit captured a German trench but was left behind when the Germans counter attacked. In a 1921 letter from the Base Records Office in Melbourne, his father Mr S Pontin, was advised that despite the efforts of the Graves Services Unit no trace of the resting place of his son, Sgt N M Pontin, could be found. As he has no known grave Sgt Ponton's name is commemorated on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial, France.