LILLEY, William Alexander
| Service Number: | 2468 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 47th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Boulia, Queensland, Australia , 22 September 1891 |
| Home Town: | Boulia, Boulia, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Winton State School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Stockman |
| Died: | Pneumonia, United Kingdom, 2 January 1917, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire |
| Memorials: | "The Monument" Cloncurry, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 2468, 47th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Choon embarkation_ship_number: A49 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 2468, 47th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Choon, Brisbane |
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William Alexander Lilley lies at rest in a small cemetery in Durrington, Wilts, England in the military part of the cemetery. He was born in Boulia, QLD. His Father was John Charlton Lilley and his Mother was Martha A. Lilley. He had 2 sisters: Sarah James and Mary Mead. He was the only grandson of William Thomas Cobley Lilley to bear the Lilley surname. His grandfather was living at the time of his enlistment and death. He was 24 years old when he enlisted in the AIF, 5th/47 Bn, in Cloncurry, QLD on 5/4/1916. His 2 cousins (2 brothers), also enlisted on the same day and place. Of the three men, only one returned to his family. It took William 3 months to travel by ship from Brisbane to Plymouth, England, arriving on 9/12/1916. Shortly after on 26/12/1916, he was admitted to the Fargo Military Hospital, Wilts, England, seriously ill with broncho pneumonia. He died on 2/1/1917. Sadly his mother received a Xmas Card and a letter both postmarked 3/1/1917. She thought perhaps a mistake had been made in advising of his death. She had also heard of an occurrence in Townsville where a mother was advised of her son's passing, when he was in fact, alive. It is heartrending to read this correspondence in his military service file held in the National Archives of Australia.
Service Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal,
Biography contributed by Cathy Sedgwick
The summary below was completed by Cathy Sedgwick – Facebook “WW1 Australian War Graves in England/UK/Scotland/Ireland”
Died on this date – 2nd January…… William Alexander Lilley was born at Boulia, Queensland on 22nd September, 1891.
He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) on 5th April, 1916 a 24 year old, single, Labourer (as listed on Embarkation Roll, however his mother listed he was a Stockman for the Roll of Honour) from Boulia, North Queensland.
Private William Alexander Lilley, Service number 2468, embarked from Brisbane on HMAT Seang Choon (A49) on 19th September, 1916 with the 47th Infantry Battalion, 5th Reinforcements & disembarked at Plymouth, England on 9th December, 1916. Private Lilley had been admitted to the Isolation Hospital on board HMAT Seang Choon on 7th December, 1916 & discharged on 8th December, 1916. He had posted a letter home from Durban on 6th November, 1916.
Reinforcements were only given basic training in Australia. Training was completed in training units in England. Some of these were located in the Salisbury Plain & surrounding areas in the county of Wiltshire.
On 9th December, 1916 Private Lilley was marched in to 12th Training Battalion, Codford, Wiltshire from overseas.
He was admitted to Fargo Military Hospital, Wiltshire on 26th December, 1916 with Bronchitis (seriously ill). A Telegram was sent to Mrs Lilley advising that her son was seriously ill with Bronchitis.
Private William Alexander Lilley died at 11 p.m. on 2nd January, 1917 at Fargo Military Hospital, Wiltshire from Broncho Pneumonia.
He was buried in Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire, England where 140 other WW1 Australian War Graves are located.
(The above is a summary of my research. The full research can be found by following the link below)
https://ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com/k---mc.html
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