WILLIAMS, Harold Roy
| Service Number: | 2476 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 56th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cooma, New South Wales, Australia , 1889 |
| Home Town: | Croydon, Ashfield, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Warehouseman |
| Died: | Australia, 13 May 1955, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemeteries & Crematorium, New South Wales The New South Wales Garden of Remembrance Memorial ID - 248616222 |
| Memorials: | Ashfield St. Vincent's Catholic Church Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 20th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2476, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ballarat embarkation_ship_number: A70 public_note: '' | |
| 16 Feb 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, 56th Infantry Battalion | |
| 12 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 56th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Harold Roy Williams's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Steve Smythe
Harold Roy Williams was born in 1889 in Cooma, NSW to parents Frederick and Mary. By 1914 he was living in Croydon, Sydney and was working as a warehouseman.
He joined the AIF on 4 August 1915 as a 26 year old, originally part of the 5th reinforcement for 20th Battalion. However in February 1916, before joining the 20th, he and many other reinforcements for that battalion were transferred to the newly raised 56th, then forming in Egypt. Known to his mates as ‘Dick’, Williams was a Roman Catholic, stood 5′ 6″ tall, weighed 152 lbs (70 kgs), and had a dark complexion, with brown eyes and black hair.
He rose from private though the NCO ranks during 1916-17 and by 19 December 1917 had gained his commission as a lieutenant.
Harold was away from the front for periods in 1917 on leave. Soon after returning from his "blighty leave", he was sent back to England for training at Officers' School in Cambridge from which he received his Commission. On returning to Francein January 1918, he was then sent to Australian Corps Gas School in Bailleul.
Not long after returning to the field, he was put out of action for several weeks, somewhat ironically, by being gassed in early April 1918. His wartime service came to an end when he was injured by a shell in action at Peronne on 2 September 1918.
Harold was evacuated via Rouen Hospital to 3rd London General Hospital in Wandsworth. In January 1919, he was repatriated on the troopship Berrima, sailing from Plymouth to Sydney.
In 1933, H R Williams wrote a book about his experiences of serving in the 56th Battalion in WW1.