Pre-enlistment studio portrait of Royce Constantine Baesjou, of Albany, WA, wearing the uniform ...

Pre-enlistment studio portrait of Royce Constantine Baesjou, of Albany, WA, wearing the uniform of a Western Australian artillery militia unit. He served in the militia for one year prior to enlisting in the 28th Battalion in March 1915. A bank clerk prior to enlisting, 560 Pte Baesjou embarked from Fremantle on board HMAT Ascanius (A11) on 29 June 1915. He served at Gallipoli from September to December, and arrived in France for service on the Western Front on 21 March 1916. In April Pte Baesjou was hospitalised with pneumonia. In June he was treated for shell shock and shortly later diagnosed with severe myalgia. In September he was sent to England for treament and convalescence. Pte Baesjou's health did not improve and he was discharged from the AIF in October 1916 and returned to Australia in December. He died of a cerebral haemorrhage at No 8 Australian General Hospital, Perth, on 19 May 1918. Pte Baesjou was 29 years of age.