HODGETTS, William Booth
| Service Number: | 14616 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 5th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Southampton, England, 27 May 1895 |
| Home Town: | East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm Labourer |
| Died: | Albury, New South Wales , Australia , 1974, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Glenmorus Gardens Albury Crematorium and Lawn Cemetery,New South Wales |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 14616, 14th Field Artillery Brigade | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 May 1916: | Involvement Gunner, 14616, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: '' | |
| 4 May 1916: | Embarked Gunner, 14616, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, HMAT Port Lincoln, Melbourne | |
| 7 Jan 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Gunner, 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column | |
| 25 Jan 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Driver, 5th Field Artillery Brigade , Remustered as Driver. France | |
| 5 Sep 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Driver, RTA 29 May 1919 for discharge (TPE). |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
William Booth Hodgetts was born on 27 may, 1895, to Booth Hodgetts and his wife, Helen Margurita, nee Strong. His mother died in 1898 and this may have been what prompted his father to emigrate to Australia. He must have married again, because William had two half sisters, Lilian Helen Hodgetts, born 1901, and Joan Patricia Hodgetts, born 1916.
At the time he enlisted, Bill Hodgetts was 20 years and 8 months old and had been working as a farm labourer. He was single, 5' 7' in height, about average for that time,and gave his religion as Church of England. When he enlisted, Bill Hodgetts gave his address as 112 Hotham St., East Melbourne, the same address as his father, and went to the Melbourne Town Hall to volunteer for the war. He already had some military training, having been in the Senior Cadets for four years at Bankstown, NSW.
He was called up on 10 January, 1916, and placed for military training with the 3rd Depot Battalion at Royal Park. At the end of the war, he returned from England on the Rio Negro on 29 May and disembarking in Melbourne on 5 July. He was discharged from further service on 5 September, 1919.
In the post war years, Bill Hodgetts moved to Forbes, NSW. In 1932, he married Elsie Reed. Their son, Sidney Angus Hodgetts was born on 2 January, 1933. In 1936, the couple were still at Forbes, but when Japan entered into World War 2, Bill signed up again, serving in the Citizens Military Force as a Sergeant from 1942-1945. By 1954, they were at Albury, where Bill built a house at 623 Edwards St. He was then working as a watchman. He died in 1954, at 150A Waugh Rd., Albury and is buried in the Union Rd Lawn Cemetery.
Source: East Melbourne Historical Society