BACON, William Henry
| Service Number: | 1078 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 January 1916, Inverell, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 33rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dungog, New South Wales, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Inverell, Inverell, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 7 June 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Inverell & District Memorial Olympic Pool WW1 Honour Roll, Inverell War Memorial, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Tingha Stannifer and Old Mill Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Inverell, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 May 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1078, 33rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Marathon embarkation_ship_number: A74 public_note: '' | |
| 4 May 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1078, 33rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Marathon, Sydney |
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33 Battalion
Rank - Private
9 July 1916 Disembarked Devonport, England, 9 July 1916.
17 March 1917 Admitted to 11th Field Ambulance, (diarrhoea);
21 arch 1917 discharged to duty, and rejoined 33rd Bn, in the field,.
7 June 1917 Posted as Wounded and Missing,
Parts of Wounded and Missing File, from eye witness at the time:
On June 7th 1917 at St. Ives near Messines, we went over the top. He was killed by a machine gun bullet.
his body was found after the attack was over among many others that were killed during the attack, and to my knowledge he was buried with other ones that had fallen in the attack in a cemetery near Ploegsteert Wood on the right of Messines Ridge.
'I saw him hit through the back in two places in No Man's Land to the right of Messines and I gave him a drink out of my bottle. I don't think he could have lived as he was nearly dead when I left him.'
'Paddy Bacon was killed in No Mans (sic) Land at Messines on 7/6/17 and I saw his dead body on that date. I lay in the same shell hole and am quite certain it was Paddy Bacon. I was wounded five or six hours afterwards.' Notation on file: 'A reliable and careful witness.'
'I saw him lying dead, back about 50 yards from the front line at Pleogstraete (sic) Wood. I think he was buried on the spot.'
Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Son of Henry Bacon, Ross Hill, Inverell, New South Wales