Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Father Andrew Abbley and Mother Elizabeth (nee Horner).

Wife  Annie Lillian Abbley living at  91 Rose Terrace, Wayville, South Australia
Lillian said:  "We were childhood sweethearts in West Hartlepool.
                     I met him first when he came to my thirteenth birthday party."
                   "When my father, mother and I came to Australia in 1912, he came with us.
                    We were married 10 months before he left for the front." 

Described on enlisting as 24 years 11 months old; 5' 3.5" tall; married; 129 lbs;
medium complexion; grey eyes; brown hair, Church of England

14/7/1915           Completed medical - fit for service
                           Commanding Officer appointed William to 10th Reinf,12th Battalion
                           Mitcham Camp

18/7/1915           Enlisted at Keswick

14/9/1915           Embarked from Adelaide onboard the HMAT A70 Ballarat

4/12/1915           Taken on strength of 12th Battalion at Sarpi Camp, Lemnos, Greece
6/1/1915             Disembarked Alexandria, Egypt

1/3/1916             Transferred to and taken on strength of 52nd Battalion, Tel el Kebir

5/6/1916             Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force
12/6/1916           disembarked Marseilles, France

7/8/1916             Wounded in action (shell shock - shrapnel wound, right shoulder)
8/8/1916             admitted to No. 4 Australian Field Ambulance
8/8/1916             transferred to No. 44 Casualty Clearing Station
8/8/1916             to No. 15 Ambulance Train
9/8/1916             to No. 2 Australian General Hospital, Boulogne
9/8/1916             Embarked on 'HS Jan Breydel' ex Bolougne for England
10/9/1916           to County of Middlesex War Hospital, Napsbury
15/8/1916           to Military Hospital, Middlesex

Medical report stated that William lost hearing in both ears, the left ear returned hearing
after 14 days, his right ear remained deaf. (21/9/1919 - AG Hospital, Keswick)

27/9/1916           marched into No. 1 Command Depot, Perham Downs

26/12/1916         marched into 13th Training Battalion, Codford (Class C1)

25/6/1917           transferred to and taken on strength of No. 17 Field Ambulance,
                           Windmill Hill, Codford

21/9/1917           marched into Details Camp, Parkhouse

25/10/1917         marched into Overseas Training Brigade, Longbridge Deverill

13/12/1917         marched into Australian Army Medical Corps Depot

26/1/1919           Returned to Australia onboard  HT 'Demosthenes'
The HMAT A64 Demosthenes weighed 11,223 tons with an average cruise speed of 15 knots or 27.78 kmph. It was owned by the G Thompson & Co Ltd, London, and leased by the Commonwealth.

26/2/1919           disembarked into Adelaide

16/5/1919           Discharged from service, due to deafness in right ear,
                           attributable to service

Medals:
WWI 1914/15 Star;  British War medal (5650), Victory medal (5600)

31/1/1921          Daughter Lilian Mary passed away at 4 months of age.

"Every day for over seven weeks Mrs Abbley had visited Keswick Hospital to be by her husband's side. She said she had never known kindness such as had been shown by the doctors and nurses at the hospital.”

11/11/1932         William died at 11am on Remembrance day.
                           at  Keswick Military Hospital, Keswick, South Australia                          
                           He had a severe attack of pleurisy, which brought on the disease
                           responsible for his death,  attributed to his war service.

                           Mrs Lilian Abbley said: 
                          "The hospital bell was just ringing for silence when he died."
                          "It seemed to me a fitting time for him to go, for he had suffered much.
                           I had been at the hospital for five hours. We had thought the end was near for days.
                           He died from an illness that followed his service in the war."  
                           Mr. Abbley, who lived in Jervis street, St. Leonards, had been in hospital for
                           several months.

Buried in:           Plot 5439, Path 30 South.
                          North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, South Australia

Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan.  1/10/2014.  Lest we forget.