Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William Henry Vick was a 21-year-old man when he travelled from Liverpool, England to Adelaide, Australia to fight in World War l. He was born in January 1887. His next of kin was his father, also named William Henry Vick. His own will stated all of his belongings would go to his father. He was around 5’8 and weighed around 75 kilograms. His complexion was fresh, with his black hair and brown eyes. He attended Bishop Goss School, in Liverpool England, which has now become a business centre. Before travelling to Australia, he was a labourer which is person who works in the construction trades. He was a single man with no children. 

William Henry Vick had previously been in the Militia and continuing on from that he wanted to fight in the Great War. Like most people he may have been encouraged into the war having previous experiences. In World War l, in Britan alone, 54 million posters were hung up, 8 million letters were sent, and 20,000 speeches were proposed by military spokesman. This encouraged men to join the war. The 10th Battalion volunteers included men who had previously served in the part-time forces before the war. William Henry Vick signed up at Morphettville, South Australia on the 7th of September 1914.

William and the rest of the 10th Battalion trained at Morphettville racecourse, which was then a World War l training camp. They occasionally marched to Glenelg to bathe and train. In September 1914 they marched through the city of Adelaide before departing overseas. He embarked on the HMAT Ascanius, Adelaide from Outer Harbor on the 20th of October. The battalion embarked for the Middle East after completing its basic training and further desert training was undertaken in Egypt before the Gallipoli Campaign, in January and February 1915. The 10th Battalion took part in the landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, coming ashore as part of the covering during the initial stages of the operation. It was a force of around 25,000 men all together. They were to land and advance further to cut the lines of communication to the Ottoman forces in the South. The 10th Battalion was involved in defending as well as creating the front line of the ANZAC position, and continued until the evacuation in December.

According to a 10th Battalion diary from the 25th of April 1915, it states “the men sprang to their feet at once & with a cheer charged up the hill held by the Turks and drove them off it. Following up their success by firing on the quickly retreating foe. Shortly after this, the two Companies A & B, off the torpedo Destroyer reached the beach, they were subjected to heavy Shrapnel and Machine Gun fire, these companies pushed on quickly and soon joined us in a general advance.” It talks about them using shrapnel, which is a fragment of a bomb, shell, or other object thrown out by an explosion. Machine guns could shoot hundreds of rounds of ammunition a minute and the standard military tactic of World War One was the infantry charge. According to the Australian War Memorial they are "believed to have penetrated further inland" than any other Australian unit.

William Henry Vick was killed in Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey. He died of wounds on the 27th of April 1915, at 27 years of age. He died two days after the 10th Battalion took part in the Landing at Anzac Cove The wound was probably from a machine gun, one of the popular weapons used during WWl.  After dying of wounds, William Henry Vick died at sea abroad the hospital ship. He has no known grave although is comme morated on the Lone Pine memorial.

Overall 1015 men were killed and 2136 were wounded (including gassed.) Most men died or were wounded by machine guns, using a shrapnel bullet. William Henry Vick received the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. These are participation awards for service.