GILL, William Arthur
| Service Number: | 994 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 14th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glenmaeye, Patrick, Isle of Man, 21 June 1887 |
| Home Town: | Trentham, Hepburn, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Plasterer |
| Died: | Prahran, Victoria, Australia, 10 December 1941, aged 54 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Burwood General Cemetery, Victoria, Australia Interment "Presbyterian 9, Grave 23" |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Corporal, 994, 14th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Corporal, 994, 14th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 8 Aug 1916: | Honoured Military Medal, Battle for Pozières , Went out during severe enemy bombardment and repaired damaged telephone lines. On other occasions during bombardment, Private Gill volunteered to repair damaged telephone lines, thus keeping lines of communication operating and saving the risk of runners to deliver messages. | |
| 3 Feb 1917: | Wounded 994, 14th Infantry Battalion, Wounded in Action - face, thigh, ankles, resulting in amputation to lower left leg. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Linda Neate
William Arthur Gill was born to Joseph Samuel Gill and Elizabeth Jane Corkill in the village of Patrick on the Isle of Man. A sister, Elizabeth, was born in 1884. Joseph, a mariner, died in 1890, and Elizabeth remarried in 1899, to John Stevenson, and had two more sons, Richard & John Bramwell.
In 1891, William lived with his maternal grandmother Ann, a widowed dressmaker, in Patrick on the Isle of Man. His widowed mother, with her daughter (also named Elizabeth) had moved to Douglas, on the opposite coast of the Isle.
In 1901, William is recorded as living with Grandmother Ann, but not in 1911, so it is likely William moved to Canada some time within those ten years, perhaps under an employment scheme, but not necessarily with the rest of his family, as they are recorded as being in the Isle of Man in 1911.
On enlistment, William, aged 27, noted he was a plasterer living in Trentham, had served an apprenticeship in Toronto, Canada, and his mother, Mrs. J. Stephenson, lived in Toronto, Canada, an address that was used in 1917 as well as one in Douglas, Isle of Mann.
In the 14th Battalion, William served in the Gallipoli campaign as a signaller, received a Military Medal in recognition of his actions in the Pozieres Ridge operations, and survived wounds to the face, thigh and ankles received on 3 February, 1917, in freezing conditions, icebound trenches, unthawed snow and biting winds. His left leg below the knee was amputated, and recovery and recuperation took up the remainder of 1917. William arrived back in Australia 10 January, 1918, and, in 1920, he married Myra Louise Neate.
William was presented with his Military Medal in a ceremony on the steps of Parliament House by the Governor-General Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson in May, 1918, and he became a member of the Limbless Soldiers Association of Victoria, formed in 1921 as an advocacy and support group for returned soldiers. William returned to work in the plastering trade as a modeller and foreman.
In 1938, a letter from the Salvation Army arrived at the Australian Army Office Barracks, Melbourne, on behalf of an unnamed half-brother of William's. The letter indicated knowledge of William's birth details, army involvement and resulting leg amputation. The Australian Army Office provided William's address to the Salvation Army, and it is to be hoped that the reconnection was a welcome one.
In addition to the Military Medal, William was awarded the Star, the Victory & the British War Medals. He died in the Alfred Hospital, Prahran, 10 December, 1941, and he and his wife Myra are buried together in the Presbyterian section of the Burwood Cemetery, Melbourne.
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