James Henry Bonella (17 December 1884 – 24 May 1918) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL), under the name of Jim Bonelli. He died of

gunshot wound A gunshot wound (GSW) is a penetrating injury caused by a projectile (e.g. a bullet) shot from a gun (typically a firearm). Damage may include bleeding, bone fractures, organ damage, wound infection, and loss of the ability to move part of ...

s received whilst on active service in France during World War I.

Family

The son of Pietro Egidio "Peter" Bonelli (1844–1888), and Margaret Bonelli (1850–1928), née Williams, James Henry Bonelli, also known as Bonella, was born at

Maldon, Victoria Maldon is a town in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Mount Alexander local government area. It has been designated "Australia's first notable town" and is notable for its 19th-century appearance, maintained since gold-rush days. At the 2 ...

on 17 December 1884. He married Eliza Puncher (1885–1968) in 1912. They had one son, James Avenel Bonella (1913–2002). Eliza's brother, Jim's brother-in-law, Private Joseph Samuel Puncher (also known as James Samuel Puncher) was killed in action in France on 21 November 1916.

Footballer

Recruited from Pembroke, he played one senior match for the Melbourne Football Club, in the last match of the season, on a very muddy ground, against Fitzroy, at the

Brunswick Street Oval The WT Peterson Community Oval, best known as the Brunswick Street Oval and also as the Fitzroy Cricket Ground, is an Australian rules football and cricket ground located in Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North, Victoria, Australia. History Aust ...

on 5 September 1908. There had been a two-week break between rounds 17 and 18 due to the

1908 Melbourne Carnival The 1908 Melbourne Carnival was the inaugural Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian football interstate competition, held in Melbourne in August 1908. It was known at the time as the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival because i ...

. Melbourne's Dick Fowler, recruited from

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is a private, co-educational, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield Grammar began admitting girls exactly ...

, and Fitzroy's Tom Norton, recruited from Hawthorn, also played their first and only senior VFL matches on that day. He returned to Pembroke, and played for them in 1909.

Military service

Working as a picture-framer, he enlisted in the First AIF on 18 January 1915. Embarking from Melbourne, Victoria, on ''HMAT Ulysses (A38)'' on 10 May 1915, he served overseas as a private in the 2nd Battalion,

Australian Machine Gun Corps The Australian Machine Gun Corps was a corps of the Australian Army which was formed for service during World War I. It was established in early 1916 as part of a reorganisation of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in Egypt as preparations were ...

. He was on the HMAT Southland when it was torpedoed on the Aegean Sea on 2 September 1915.

Death

He was severely wounded in his left thigh, whilst in action with the 21st Battalion, A Company, on 20 May 1918 and was evacuated to a military hospital. Although he had been successfully operated upon on 21 May 1918, he died of his wounds on 24 May 1918. He is buried in section LXVIII, row D, grave 11 of

Étaples Military Cemetery Étaples Military Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Étaples, near Boulogne on the north-west coast of France. The cemetery holds over 11,500 dead from both World War I and World War II. History Étaples was the scen ...

in northwest France.

Notes

References

World War One Embarkation Roll: Private James Henry Bonella (98)
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
World War One Nominal Roll: Private James Henry Bonella (98)
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
World War One Service Record: Private James Henry Bonella (98)
''Australian National Archives''.
Red Cross Wounded and Missing Records: Private James Henry Bonella (98)
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
Roll of Honour Circular: Private James Henry Bonella (98)
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
Roll of Honour: Private James Henry Bonella (98), ''Australian War Memorial''.

Australian Casualties: Victorian List No.409, Died of Wounds – (Bonella, J.M, West Brunswick, 24/5/18), ''The Argus'', (Monday, 17 June 1918), p.7.

James Henry Bonella (98)
''The AIF Project'', UNSW Canberra.

External links

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Jim Bonelli
at ''Demonwiki'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonella, Jim 1884 births 1918 deaths Military personnel from Victoria (state) Melbourne Football Club players Australian military personnel killed in World War I Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) People from Maldon, Victoria Burials at Étaples Military Cemetery 20th-century Australian sportsmen