MONTGOMERY, William
| Service Number: | 514 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 August 1914, Morphettville, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, 25 February 1883 |
| Home Town: | Broken Hill, Broken Hill Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Woollarah Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Natural causes, St Kilda, Victoria, Australia, 20 November 1944, aged 61 years |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne Cremated |
| Memorials: | Broken Hill Barrier District Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 514, 10th Infantry Battalion, Morphettville, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 514, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Lance Corporal, 514, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Adelaide | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 514, 10th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, GSW head | |
| 25 Jul 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Sep 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Mar 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
| 9 Aug 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
| 20 Oct 1916: | Honoured Military Medal, Battle for Pozières , For consistent good work in the firing line from 19 July to 26 August 1916 and especially during active operations at Pozieres from 21 to 25 July when he commanded his section under very heavy shell fire and when his supplies of ammunition for his mortars were expended, rendered material assistance by bombin, at which he is an expert. | |
| 9 Jan 1917: | Honoured Military Cross, For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Ypres on 28 September 1916 after his mortar emplacement was blown in by a minemwerfer shell he extricated himself and set to work rescuing other trapped men, at the same time directing fire of two other mortars. | |
| 8 Aug 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 10th Infantry Battalion, Medically unfit | |
| 19 Oct 1920: | Honoured Member of the Order of the British Empire, Service during the war |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Born Wiliiam Montgomery Rockliff in Tasmania in 1883 to Roger Ayton Rockliff and Mary Agnes Montgomery he was the only male of their six children. Adopting his mother's maiden name, he was better known as William Rockliff Montgomery.
He came to the Australian mainland with his family in 1897 and later engaged in mining in Western Australia and at Broken Hill. Almost six foot in height and over 16 stone in weight, of considerable stength and athleticism, he was well known as a heavy weight boxer in the Broken Hill district. He was in Broken Hill when war was declared and at once enlisted in the 10th Battalion. He was at the landing at Gallipoli with the 10th and then saw action in France and Belgium.
While serving in the ranks he was awarded the Military Medal, received a commission and later was decorated with the Military Cross. His military service was a distinguished one, and he was an exceedingly popular officer.
Montgomery returned to Australia in March 1917 due to illness and threw himself whole heartedly into the conscription campaign. He stood for the seat of Barrier in the May 1917 Federal election, being narrowly defeated by Michael Patrick Considine MHR.
On 1 December 1917 at the Presbyterian Church, St Kilda, Victoria he married May Olga Pietriche. The marrage did not last, the couple divorcing in 1925.
Subsequently he was appointed organizing officer in South Australia for the Australian Army Reserve. His next appointment, in May 1920, was that of soldiers' representative on the Federal Central War Gratuity Board, where he was associated with General Evan Alexander Wisdom CB CMG DSO VD, later the Administrator of New Guinea. In October 1920 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services during the war. He went to New Guinea with General Wisdom in 1921, and remained there for three years, during which period he was sub-inspector of native police, and acting mines warden on the Bulolo goldfield at Morobe.
Malarial fever compelled him to return to Australia, and he accepted the management of the Hotel Toronto at Toronto on the shores of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. The Toronto climate did not agree with Montgomery, and as his medical adviser recommended a drier climate, so he moved to Albury on the Murray, where he purchased the City Hotel with his wife.
In late 1925, after having spent 18 months in Albury, and following disolution of the partnership with his wife, he sold out and went to Melbourne, where he organized Poppy Day for the Victorian Returned Soldiers' League, and subsequently acted as organizer for the Victorian League of the Liquor Trades Defence League.
Montgomery was appointment manager of the Returned Soldiers' Club in Adelaide in 1927. Moving back to Victoria, he took up the licence of the Grasmere Hotel before selling in 1931 and relocating to Melbourne where he spent the rest of his working life.
William Rockliff Montgomery MBE MC MM died at his home, 1 West Beach Road, St Kilda on 20 November 1944 and was cremated.
References: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/263611966
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206006653
https://mosman1914-1918.net/people/william-montgomery-rockliff-enlisted-as-william-rockliff-montgomery/
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168267715
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220255913
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