Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Research here in UK indicates he was a Sergeant, though that could be wrong because the newspaper report from The Grays and Tilbury Gazette of 20th October 1917 lists him as Sapper W. A. King.

He is referred to as a former Grays artist, the only son of Sydney King. He was educated at Winchester Art School amongst other schools. At 19, he left England to join his uncle H.G.King in Australia.

He became one of the first Australian contingent to land in Egypt. He briefly returned to England to become a Physical Training Instructor at the Salisbury Australian Depot. He then proceeded to France on 25th August and about 4 days later was killed. Records suggest he was a stretcher-bearer.

He is remembered on the Grays War Memorial which stands at the north end of Grays High Street; the names of the borough’s Great War dead are inscribed on the east and west panels, while the south-facing panel is inscribed with four lines from the poem, "Bivouac of the Dead" written by Danville, Kentucky native, Theodore O'Hara to honour his fellow soldiers from Kentucky who died in the Mexican-American War. The poem increased its popularity after the Civil War, and its verses have been featured on many memorials to fallen soldiers throughout the world,

On Fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.

Locally born casualties who fell whilst serving with Australian forces in the Great War who are commemorated on the Grays War Memorial are:

Henry C. Aslett

Frank [Francis] Walter Facer

William Mears

Cecil Charles Mitcham

Bertram Neal

Josiah Needham Smith

Albert Stephenson

It has to be assumed that the following locally born Australian casualties didn’t make it to any of the borough’s war memorials, possibly because there were no living relatives still around in the area when the lists were created.

 George Seth Clayton

Charles Culley

Jesse Humphrey

John Musgrove

Richard Turnbull

C. Webb