William KILGOUR DCM

William KILGOUR DCM Update Details

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KILGOUR, William

Service Number:	5122
Enlisted:	24 January 1916
Last Rank:	Sergeant
Last Unit:	57th Infantry Battalion
Born:	Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 1894
Home Town:	Tarnagulla, Loddon, Victoria
Schooling:	Eddington State School, Victoria, Australia
Occupation:	Blacksmith
Died:	Ballarat, Victoria, Australia , 16 October 1974, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Ballarat New Cemetery and Crematorium, Victoria Presbyterian C, Section 3, Row 1, Grave 58
Memorials:	Eddington State School Honor Roll WW1, Tarnagulla Presbyterian Church Roll of Honour

World War 1 Service

24 Jan 1916:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5122
1 Apr 1916:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 5122, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suffolk, Melbourne: 16th Reinforcements /7th Infantry Battalion.
23 Oct 1916:	Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 57th Infantry Battalion
1 Feb 1918:	Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 57th Infantry Battalion
14 Oct 1918:	Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 57th Infantry Battalion
14 Aug 1919:	Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 5122, 57th Infantry Battalion, Service medals; British War Medal; Victory Medal.

Brief history

Sergeant William Mills Kilgour DCM (Service No. 5122) was born in 1894, the son of William Mills Kilgour and Sarah Ellen Matilda Dearnaley. A blacksmith from Tarnagulla, Victoria, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 24 January 1916 at the age of 21. He served with the 57th Battalion on the Western Front in France and Belgium during the First World War. On 5 September 1918, near Doignies, France, during operations associated with the advance beyond the Somme, Corporal Kilgour displayed conspicuous gallantry when he and one other soldier moved several hundred yards ahead of the Australian line to investigate a German machine-gun position that was holding up the battalion's advance. Finding the position strongly defended, he rushed it, killing three of the garrison, capturing another, and causing the remainder to flee under Australian Lewis gun fire. For this action, and for the marked courage and initiative he displayed throughout the operation, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), one of the highest awards for gallantry available to non-commissioned soldiers of the British Empire. He returned to Australia on 15 May 1919 as a Sergeant and married Jessie Victoria Alexander, sister of Private Hamilton George Alexander, who was killed in action at Bullecourt in 1917. William Kilgour died in Ballarat in 1974 at the age of 80.

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