WILLIAMSON, Stanley Stawell
| Service Number: | 6361 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 July 1916, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 8th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Clunes, Victoria, Australia, 1894 |
| Home Town: | Clunes, Hepburn, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Fitter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 4 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Clunes War Memorial, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Tourello Walnut Grove Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Jul 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6361, 8th Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 6361, 8th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 6361, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Melbourne | |
| 16 Apr 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 6361, 8th Infantry Battalion, The Outpost Villages - German Withdrawal to Hindenburg Line, Lagnicourt | |
| 20 Sep 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 6361, 8th Infantry Battalion, Menin Road | |
| 4 Oct 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 6361, 8th Infantry Battalion, Broodseinde Ridge |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
Stanley Stawell Williamson enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne on 7 July 1916, aged 22. He embarked overseas on 11 September and disembarked in England on 26 October 1916, where he spent the next three months with the 2nd (Brigade) Training Battalion at Perham Downs Camp in Wiltshire.
He left England on 4 February 1917 and arrived in France the same day, where he was marched out and taken on strength of the 8th Battalion, in the line near Flers, on 10 February.
The 8th Battalion participated in the successful defence of Lagnicourt, during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, on 16 April 1917, then moved north into Belgium later in the year.
They fought at the Battle of Menin Road, near Ypres, on 20 September 1917 and then again at Broodseinde Ridge two weeks later. It was at Broodseinde Ridge that Pte Stanley Stawell Williamson was killed in action on 4 October 1917.
According to eye-witness reports, the shell hole in which he and several other men were sheltering sustained a direct hit by German artillery and he was killed instantly. He was buried nearby some days later however his grave was never relocated, and he has no known grave.
He is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
Source: Extract from "Clunes War Memorial WW1" by Robert Wight, June 2022.
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