Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William O'Loughlin was born on the 10th of May 1893 and died on the 1st of February 1957 at the age of 63. William had four siblings, oldest sister Mary Gertrude Richter, only brother Anthony O’Loughlin, Second oldest sister Norah O’Loughlin Barrett, then William, youngest sister/child Ellen "Nell" O’Loughlin Reilich. Parents were called Anne Ellen and Barry O’Loughlin. 

William  was born in Hammond; SA and his hometown was Morchard and that's also where he grew up. He was not married before the war so his nominated next of kin was his mother. He worked as a labourer and his religion was Roman Catholic.

William was described as a dark-haired man with blue eyes, with dark features. He was 5,9 and three quarters. 

William O’Loughlin was a very brave and kind-hearted man. He didn’t run away from gun fire; he ran towards it, as evidenced by his awarding of a Military Medal.

William was hospitalised many times but one of the times he was badly wounded from a gunshot to the left knee when he was in the 27th battalion.

Battles of the 27th and 11th Battalions

William was enlisted on the 22nd of May of 1915 at the age of 22. Then he was detached to the 27th Battalion on the 22nd of May of 1915 to 16th of June 1915. The 27th Battalion entered the front-line trenches for the first time on April 7th, 1916, and took part in its first major fight at Pozieres between the 28th of July and August 5th. Then they took part in two attacks to the east of Fler’s in the Somme valley, both of which floundered in the mud.

In April 1918 the 27th Battalion fought to turn back the German offensive and later in the year participated in a string of offensive battles, Germany was pushed ever closer to defeat. On the 8th of August, the Battalion captured 9 artillery pieces, 25 machine guns and over 200 prisoners. On the 1st of August 1916 he appointed Lance Corporal in France. On the 9th of November 1916 he went to the hospital with Trench Feet. On 6th of December 1916, he joined 11th battalion. William joined the troops on the Western Front and up until 1918 took part in bloody trench warfare. During this period, the 11th Battalion were involved in a minor advance as German Army’s retreated. The Battalion returned to Belgium to participate in the offensive that became know as the Third Battle of Ypres. Offensive attacks continued and in August 1918, the Battalion joined with British troops and forced an advance on the Germans. This attack became widely known as the greatest offensive success in a single day. Operations continued until November 1918, when the guns fell silent. Those were all the battles he fought when he was in the 27th and the 11th battalion.

William’s War journey

On the 21st of September 1917 he was wounded in action during the first wave at the battle of Menin Road. On the 24th of September 1917 he was admitted to Rockhampton war hospital with multiple gunshot wounds including a severe wound to his left knee. On the 15th of November 1917 he went absent without leave 3.30pm 15.11.17 - 3.15pm 16.11.17 reprimanded and docked 2 days’ pay. On the 6th of February 1918 he rejoined the unit. On the 18th of June 1918 he admitted to the hospital sick with influenza. On the 27th of June 1918 he was released from the hospital. On the 10th of August 1918 he was caught in gunfire with other officers. One of his fellow officers was severely wounded in the head and was lying out in front of the main body, William without hesitation volunteered for the extreme hazardous task of bringing the wounded officer in. With much difficulty and great personal risk, he succeeded in getting the officer back to safety. He undoubtedly saved the officers life. On the 14th of May 1919 he was awarded the Military Medal for his actions. On the 5th of June 1919 he was discharged due to being medically unfit. On 31st of January 1929 his discharge papers were destroyed in a fire.

After the war, William went on to marry Dorothy May Frith, continued working as a labourer and died young at the age of 63 in 1957.