Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Craftsman William Austin Withers (Service No:WX21759) served in the Army from 8 June 1942 to 6 December 1945, and was in Morotai from 15 June 1945 to 20 October 1945. Craftsman Withers served with General Details Depot and 102 Anti Aircraft Regiment Workshop AEME. Craftsman Withers was attached to Advanced LHQ Area Workshop AEME at Discharge on 6 December 1945.

Born in Geraldton, Western Australia in 1912, Bill was third of four children of Alfred Joshua Withers (b1880 at Pleasant Creek, Victoria) and Olive Compston (b1885 in Goroke, Victoria). Alfred (a Master Butcher) and Olive married in 1906 in Coolgardie, WA. Alfred had worked as a Manager for Butcher and Uhr in Kookinyie and Leonora, and worked for himself in Kalgoorlie. By 1910 Alfred and Olive had moved to Fremantle where Alfred was a Fruiterer, and by 1913 the family had settled in Geraldton where Alfred worked as an Accountant. In the 1920s Alfred and Olive lived in Northampton and Bruce Rock where Alfred worked as an Agent before returning to Fremantle in the early 1930s where he was a Butcher. In the early 1940's Alfred and Olive moved to Katanning, where Alfred was Licensee of the Royal Exchange Hotel. Following Olive's death in 1962, Alfred retired to Albany.

Bill started work as a Butcher in Fremantle and was an Electrician in Fremantle in 1934 when he married Elsie (Rene) Irene Brown (b1911 in Bendigo, Victoria). Bill and Rene were in Fremantle when Bill enlisted in the AIF in 1942. In the 1950s Bill and Rene were living in Bendigo, Victoria where Bill was a Process Worker and Rene a Cook/Chef. In the 1960s Bill was working at Olallie Station, Wilcannia, NSW and by 1980 had retired to Mandurah, WA. Bill died in 1982 and Rene in 1984.