GARTRELL, William Henry
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 August 1914, Thursday Island, Queensland |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 26th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia, 3 September 1893 |
| Home Town: | Charters Towers, Charters Towers, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Charters Towers Queeton State School, Charters Towers Richmond Hill School |
| Occupation: | Postal employee |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 18 November 1916, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Douchy-les-Ayette British Cemetery III. E. 1. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Brisbane Albert Street Uniting Church Honour Roll, Charters Towers Methodist Circuit Great War Roll of Honour, Charters Towers Queenton State School Roll of Honour, Charters Towers Richmond Hill Teachers and Ex-Pupils Great War Honour Roll, Postmaster-General's Dept Qld. WWI |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Naval and Military Forces - Special Tropical Corps, Thursday Island, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Sep 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Naval and Military Forces - Special Tropical Corps, Kanowna, Thursday Island | |
| 18 Sep 1914: | Discharged AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant | |
| 2 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 26th Infantry Battalion, Brisbane, Queensland | |
| 29 Jun 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 26th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Jun 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 26th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Brisbane | |
| 4 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 26th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 14 Nov 1916: | Imprisoned 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17 | |
| 18 Nov 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, 26th Infantry Battalion, 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 26th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Captain awm_died_date: 1916-11-18 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Henry George Gartrell, of Aplin St., Charters Towers Queensland, and the late Rhoda Gartrell.
ONE OF THE BRAVEST ONE OF THE BEST GOD GRANT HIM ETERNAL REST
THE DEATH OF LIEUT. W. H. GARTRELL.
Yet another of the men who went from Charters Towers to fight for their King and country has met a soldier's end—been killed in action at the front—the last to join the ranks of The Deathless Army being Lieut. W. H. (Billy) Gartrell, whose father Mr Harry Gartrell, for many years was drum-major in the old Kennedy Regiment. On the outbreak war, the late Lieutenant Gartrell, who held a commission in the Second Infantry, went with his regiment to Thursday Island, where he volunteered for active service in the Pacific and enlisted in the luckless Kanowna expedition. On the return of the vessel to Townsville it was not long before he volunteered for overseas service, and he was successful in getting a commission in the 26th Battalion, with which division he fought in Gallipoli and afterwards in France, where fighting, he fell.
But 23 years of age he was of an almost boyish disposition, but with a rare love for military work and he was body and soul in the game. It was his hobby, something in which he took a deep interest and from which he derived much pleasure. He celebrated his 21st birthday in New Guinea, his 22nd in Gallipoli, and his 23rd in France, and he had been twice wounded. To his friends, whose number was legion, it will be hard to realise that this cheerful jovial young officer is now lying in a soldier's grave in muddy blood-stained Flanders, but all will unite in an expression of deepest sympathy with his brave parents who have made the supreme sacrifice—given a son in the cause of the Empire.
Biography
Original member of the German New Guinea Expeditionary Force. Did not participate in capture of German New Guinea. Returned to Townsville on 18 Sep 1914, on account of the trouble caused by the fireman on troopship.
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