Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William George Channon left Australia at the age of 22 and had an interesting few years abroad.

It is strange to find information about him freely online whilst more recent relatives there is nothing at all.

He fought in WW1 in France and was injured twice, "in the field", (in his foot), and whilst recovering from one of his injuries in an Australian Rehabilitation camp in the Deverills, Wiltshire, in the UK, he met my Grandmother who was visiting friends or relations there.

I have a love letter / poem he wrote her, and his signature on the bottom matches the signature on his sign up papers and on his later marriage certificate, to my Grandmother.

My Grandmother gave birth to my Mother, however William had returned to Australia to "sort a few things out". He never returned. A gypsy fortune teller told my Grandmother that he would return when the mimosa was in flower, but as far as we know he never did come back to the UK.

When my mother did a little investigating with the Australian war office she was told her that he had died in the 1950's on a train on the way to Sydney. We later found out that he had remarried in Australia.

On his embarkation papers his occupation was put down as Coachbuilder but when my Grandmother died he was described by my mother as a retired sheep farmer!