25466
DUNSTALL, William Curtis
| Service Number: | 788 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 13th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Glenelg, South Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Normanville, Yankalilla, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Driver |
| Died: | Parkside, South Australia , 26 August 1973, cause of death not yet discovered, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Yankalilla District Roll of Honour WW1, Yankalilla War Memorial Wall |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Feb 1915: | Involvement Private, 788, 9th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Armadale embarkation_ship_number: A26 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Feb 1915: | Embarked Private, 788, 9th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Armadale, Melbourne | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Private, 788, 13th Field Artillery Brigade | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 788, 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column |
Help us honour William Curtis Dunstall's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
William C. Dunstall was born in Glenelg but moved to Yankalilla with his family. Prior to enlistment he was working as a Driver.
William enlisted in Oaklands on December 19th, 1914. His nominated next of kin was his mother. William embarked on February 12th, 1915, after training at Keswick Barracks and travelling to Melbourne, Victoria to board the HMAT A26 Armadale. He proceeded to Gallipoli 16 May 1915 with the 9th Light Horse Regiment. Soon after 24 June 1915, he fell ill with influenza amd was hospitalised. Around this time, in Normanville, 19 trees were planted to honour the 19 men from Normanville sent to the war, including William.
William returned to service 6 July 1915 fighting at The Battle of The Nek 7 August. The next battle his regiment engaged in was the battle of hill 60 from August 21st to 29th, 1915. It was here that he was shot in the right leg August 28th, 1915 at Walker’s Ridge and was sent to a Casualty Clearing Station for initial treatment. The wound proved severe, requiring a relocation to London Military Hospital on September 19, 1915. it was not until the following year that he had recovered sufficiently to return to Egypt on March 22nd, 1916.
He was then transferred to the 5th Division Artillery on April 1st. He was mustered as a Driver 22 April 1916. William proceeded to France aboard the S.S. Huntsend to Marseilles via Alexandria on June 20th.
After this transfer, William spent a large amount of time fighting on the Western Front, beginning at the battle of the Somme for 17 days from July 1st to July 18th 1916. After the Somme, his division moved to the battle of Fromelles, from July 19th through 20th, 1916. William’s unit proceeded to fight through to the end of the first battle of the Somme, taking time off before the battle of Arras.
The final conflicts that William fought in were the battle of Amiens and the German spring offensives. The spring offensives were sporadic attacks launched by the Germans to take the maximum possible land with limited supplies, which although did succeed, it used all the final resources Germany had. Amiens was a short and successful battle for The Allies with minimal casualties from August 8th to 12th, 1918.
William went on leave to the UK soon after, with no conflicts preceding when he returned. At this time, his mother grew concerned about the lack of letters she was receiving over the past 2 years and wrote to the office that dealt with messages sent from the battlefield. They replied with a recommendation to message the 3rd light horse brigade, sighting that they cannot do anything to fix the issue.
William returned safely and lived at 109 Kenilworth Rd, Parkside. His mother died on the 22nd of August, 1943.
William Curtis Dunstall lived to 76 years of age, dying on the 26th of August, 1973, being cremated on the 28th at Centennial Park Cemetery.
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