OATES, William Henry
| Service Number: | 7693 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 February 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Tunnelling Company (inc. 5th Tunnelling Company) |
| Born: | Clunes, Victoria, Australia, 18 September 1871 |
| Home Town: | Boulder, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Albany, Western Australia, 29 August 1924, aged 52 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Memorial Park Cemetery, Albany, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | Kings Park Western Australia State War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Feb 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 7693, Tunnelling Companies | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Aug 1917: | Involvement Sapper, 7693, Tunnelling Companies, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Aug 1917: | Embarked Sapper, 7693, Tunnelling Companies, HMAT Anchises, Sydney | |
| 12 Mar 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sapper, 7693, 2nd Tunnelling Company (inc. 5th Tunnelling Company), France: Gassed | |
| 9 Aug 1918: | Embarked AIF WW1, Sapper, 7693, 2nd Tunnelling Company (inc. 5th Tunnelling Company), embarked Plymouth for Fremantle on board HT Carpentaria | |
| 13 Oct 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sapper, 7693, 2nd Tunnelling Company (inc. 5th Tunnelling Company) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Sapper William Henry Oates (Service No:7693) enlisted in the AIF in Kalgoorlie on 20 February 1917 as a Private with Depot Battalions, and was a Sapper attached to Tunnelling Coy Reinforcements on 8 August 1917 when he embarked with his Unit from Sydney for Liverpool on board HMAT A68 Anchises. Sapper Oates served on the Western Front with 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion, and was attached to 2nd Tunnelling Coy on 12 March 1918 when he was WiA in France (Gassed). Evacuated to England, Sapper Oates embarked from Plymouth for Fremantle on 9 August 1918 on board HT Carpentaria, and was attached to 2nd Tunnelling Coy at Discharge on 13 October 1918 (Medically Unfit). Brothers Hugh (Service No:77056) and Josiah (Service No:5012) also served in WWI. Sons William, Hugh, Charles and Sydney served in WWII.
Born in Clunes, Victoria in 1871, William was sixth of twelve children of James Oates (b1840 in Cornwall, England) and Elizabeth Ann Gribble (b1843 in Cornwall, England). James (a Mine Blacksmith in Cornwall) and Elizabeth married in 1863 in Ballarat, Victoria - Elizabeth had immigrated in 1848, arriving in Port Adelaide on board the Santipore. James and Elizabeth settled in Clunes, where they raised their family and James worked as an Engine Driver. In the 1890s they followed the Gold Rush to Western Australia, where Elizabeth died in Coolgardie in 1898. James died in 1907 - he was on board the SS Kanowna when he 'mysteriously disappeared during the voyage from Fremantle to Port Adelaide' (Trove).
William worked as Miner and Labourer in Boulder, where in 1897 he married Eliza Fenton Simmons (b1873 in Armidale, New South Wales). William and Eliza lived in Boulder before moving to Subiaco in Perth in the early 1900s - William was a Wood Merchant. By 1915 the family had returned to Boulder, where William was a Miner when he enlisted in the AIF in 1917. Following his Discharge, William and Eliza settled in Albany, where William was an 'Incapacitated Soldier' and member of the Sub Branch of the Returned Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses Imperial League. His Obituary (Albany Advertiser; Saturday August 30, 1924) states 'during his five year's residence in Albany he had won the friendship of many residents by his cheery nature and the fortitude with which he bore his war disabilities'. William died in 1924 and Eliza in 1967.
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