Wong, Richard Wesley

Headstone of Private Richard Wong, 17th Battalion (New South Wales), Warlencourt British Cemetery. [DVA]

Service number: 5430

Rank: Private

Unit: 17th Battalion (Infantry)

Service: Australian Army

Conflict: 1914-1918

Date of death: 2 March 1917

Cause of death: Killed in action

Cemetery or memorial details: Warlencourt British Cemetery, France

War Grave Register notes: WONG, Pte. Richard Wesley, 5430. 17th Bn. Australian Inf. Killed in action 2nd March, 1917. Age 29. Son of Bartholomew and Emma Jane Wong, of Stanley Rd., Beechworth, Victoria Australia. VI. H. 25.

Source: AWM145 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Army

Richard and William Thomas were brothers.

Source
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour
Australian War Memorial Embarkation Roll
Mapping Our ANZACs


Killed on 2 March 1917, and lying now in Plot VI, Row H, Grave 25, is Private Richard Wong of the 17th Battalion (New South Wales), age 29, of Beechworth, Victoria. Wong had spent very little time with the unit before his death, having joined them in the line on 18 December 1916. Described by Corporal Henry Savage, 17th Battalion, as ‘half a Chinaman to look at but a very decent fellow’, Wong was killed by a German barrage, heralding a counter–attack on Australian units, about 500 metres up the road from the cemetery. He was buried close to the Butte in a clearly marked grave and the body moved shortly after the war.

 Source
Warlencourt British Cemetery