William Williams

William Henry Williams was supposedly born in Corryong, Victoria sometime before 1900. He was one of five children of William and Martha Williams. His eldest sister, Myrtle, indicated in a letter written to the Officer in Charge at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne in 1920, that William had enlisted under the name of Charles Hayes as he was under the age of 21 at the time he enlisted. Both of William's parents had passed away either just before, or after he enlisted, although no details were able to be located.

William enlisted on the 28th of January 1915, at Liverpool, NSW, becoming a member of the 5th Reinforcements for the 3rd Battalion with the Regimental Number 1970. At the time of his enlistment he gave the address of his next of kin, his Aunt Mrs R. Atherton, as Lancelot Street, Five Dock, Sydney, NSW. His enlistment papers indicated that he had been an apprentice butcher for C Jones in Wodonga for two years, and that his previous military experience included a stint with the Light Horse and the 44th Infantry Battalion. It’s not known whether this information was true or used to help him build a story for his older aged character.

After training, he embarked with the rest of the 3rd Battalion reinforcements on HMAT A55 Kyarra at Sydney on the 13th of April 1915. William finally arrived at Anzac Cove on the 14th of June. He was wounded during the August Offensive when the 3rd Battalion participated in the attack on Lone Pine. He received a gunshot wound to the left thigh, serious enough for him to be transported to hospital at Alexandria.

It would be over two months before William rejoined his unit at Gallipoli. The 3rd Battalion would hold the region at Shell Green through to the evacuation on the 19th of December.

The battalion’s war diary entry for the 1st of December states;

“Improvements to fire recesses were carried out and progress made with underground chambers. Wire entanglements were placed on our front during the night. To Hospital 3 From Hospital 0 Casualties 1 OR killed.”

The OR (Other Rank), killed was William. There is no record as to how he was killed in action, whether it was by sniper fire or shellfire. He was buried at the Shell Green cemetery by the Rev W McKenzie.

William is remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Corryong State School Roll of Honour, and the Corryong War Memorial. For his service during the First World War, he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.