STEELE, William Hamlet
| Service Number: | 4889 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 8th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, November 1890 |
| Home Town: | Ballarat, Central Highlands, Victoria |
| Schooling: | St Patrick's School, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Tailor |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium - Broodseinde Ridege, 4 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 7), Belgium, Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4889, 8th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 4889, 8th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 4889, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Melbourne | |
| 26 Mar 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 8th Infantry Battalion | |
| 14 May 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 8th Infantry Battalion |
Cpl William Hamlet Steele
William enlisted on 6 June 1915 at the age of 24 years and nine months. He was employed as a tailor, having served a three-year apprenticeship with Harry Davies, Ballarat. He was five feet, six and one half inches tall, with a fair complexion, grey eyes and light brown hair.
William proceeded overseas late in 1915, disembarking in Egypt for further training. He left Alexandria as part of the British Expeditionary Forces on 28 May 1916, arriving at Marseilles on 4 June. He marched in to join his battalion in the field, joining the reinforcements on 29 July 1916.
Corporal Steele’s record shows that he was accidentally wounded in 15 June 1917, when he sustained a machine gun bullet wound in his right arm, while giving instructions to his squad. Because of this injury, he was transferred back to England and admitting to the Tooting Military Hospital where he remained until 13 August 1917.
He returned to France and had rejoined his unit in the field on 27 August. While fighting at Passchendaele, Corporal Steele was killed in action on 4 October 1917. He was 26 years old at the time of his death. He is remembered at the Menin Gate, Ypres.
From St Patrick's College Ballarat, Our Bravest
Submitted 25 March 2019 by Evan Evans