COCKS, William John
| Service Number: | 7892 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 September 1916, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company) |
| Born: | Chewton, Victoria, Australia, 1896 |
| Home Town: | Chewton, Mount Alexander, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Chewton State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia, 1 May 1958, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Sep 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 7892, Tunnelling Companies, Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Nov 1917: | Involvement Sapper, 7892, Tunnelling Companies, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' | |
| 21 Nov 1917: | Embarked Sapper, 7892, Tunnelling Companies, HMAT Nestor, Melbourne | |
| 5 May 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company), France | |
| 26 Oct 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sapper, 7892, 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company), RTA 24 Aug 1918 and discharged as MU (illness). |
Help us honour William John Cocks's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
William John Cocks (SN 7892) was born in Chewton, near Castlemaine, Victoria, where he was working as a miner when he enlisted in Melbourne on June 19th 1916.
Posted to the 7/2nd Pioneers Reinforcements, he was "struck off strength" as a deserter in December 1916. Several warrants for his arrest were issued and withdrawn over the next year before the now 23 year old finally embarked from Melbourne with the Tunnelling Companies Reinforcements in November 1917 on board the Nestor.
His overseas service got off to a similarly rocky start when he was court-martialled after being absent without leave for over a month, forfeiting a total of 103 days pay.
At the end of April 1918, he was posted to France with the 3rd Tunnelling Company but spent much of the next month in hospital with pleurisy before returning to England following a diagnosis of tuberculosis.
He returned to Australia aboard the Medic, disembarking at Melbourne in October, and was discharged, medically unfit, on October 26th 1918.
Source: honouringouranzacs.com.au
Click images to start slideshow.