Thomas George (Tom) WILLIAMS MM

WILLIAMS, Thomas George

Service Number: 7111
Enlisted: 28 August 1916
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 38th Infantry Battalion
Born: Fyan's Creek, Victoria, Australia, 21 August 1897
Home Town: Fyans Creek, Northern Grampians, Victoria
Schooling: Fyan's Creek State School, Victoria, Australia
Occupation: Labourer
Died: Deep Lead via Stawell, Victoria, Australia, 3 August 1968, aged 70 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Stawell Pleasant Creek Cemetery, Victoria, Australia
Memorials: Fyans Creek State School Roll of Honor, Halls Gap Memorial Gates
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World War 1 Service

28 Aug 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 7111, 39th Infantry Battalion
23 Nov 1916: Involvement Private, 7111, 6th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: ''
23 Nov 1916: Embarked Private, 7111, 6th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne
11 Aug 1918: Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 7111, 38th Infantry Battalion, The Battle of Amiens, WiA France; GSW back; invalided to UK
23 May 1919: Honoured Military Medal, The Battle of Amiens, 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 61 'On the 12th August, 1918, near PROYART while his Battalion, without artillery protection, was advancing by means of patrol fighting, he acted as a Scout Leader and under heavy machine gun fire continued his reconnaissance and obtained valuable information regarding enemy dispositions enabling the Battalion to advance. By his spirit of leadership, coolness and courage, he inspired all the men of his patrol.'
25 Sep 1919: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 7111, 38th Infantry Battalion, embarked England for Melbourne on board HT Port Denison
28 Dec 1919: Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 7111, 38th Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Private Thomas George Williams MM (Service No:7111) enlisted in the AIF on 28 August 1916 with 39th Infantry Battalion, and was attached to 6th Infantry Battalion on 23 November 1916 when he embarked with his Unit from Melbourne for Portsmouth on board HMAT A20 Hororata. Private Williams transferred to 38th Infantry Battalion on 25 August 1917, and was with the 38th on 11 August 1918 when he was WiA (GSW, back) near the village of Proyart in the Somme Valley in France, and was invalided to England. It was for his actions at Proyart ('leadership, coolness and courage' AWM) at Proyart that he was awarded the Military Medal (Commonwealth Gazette; p61; 23 May 1919). Private Williams embarked on 25 September 1919 from England for Melbourne on board HT Port Denison, and was attached to 38th Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 28 December 1919. Younger brother Stan served in the AIF in WWII.

Tom was born at Fyan's Creek via Stawell, Victoria in 1897, fifth of six children of John (Jack) Williams (b1862 at Pleasant Creek via Stawell, Victoria) and Sarah Ann Prydderch (b1867 at Pleasant Creek via Stawell, Victoria). Jack and Sarah married in 1889 in Stawell, and settled at Fyan's Creek, where they raised their family and Jack worked as a Labourer. 

Tom was working as a Labourer at Fyan's Creek in 1916 when he enlisted in the Army. Following his Discharge, in 1927 in Deniliquin, New South Wales he married Jessie Louise Howitt (b1905 in Deniliquin, New South Wales) - Tom's younger brother Stan married Jessie's younger sister Annie). Tom and Jessie settled at Fyan's Creek via Stawell, where they raised their family and Tom worked as a Labourer. In the early 1950s the family moved to Deep Lead via Stawell, where Tom was a Farmer until his death in 1968. Jessie died in 2001.

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