BAILEY, William Charles
| Service Number: | 706 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Quirindi, Liverpool Plains, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 6 August 1916, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Breeza and District War Memorial, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Corporal, 706, 13th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Corporal, 706, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 6 Aug 1916: | Involvement 706, 4th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 706 awm_unit: 4th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Company Sergeant Major awm_died_date: 1916-08-06 |
Great Sydney Station Honour Board
William Charles BAILEY, (Service Number 706) was born at Curlewis, on 21 May 1883. In October 1908 he gained temporary employment as a porter in the Murrurundi district, and this was soon confirmed as a permanent position. By February 1910 he was a 3rd class shunter, and eighteen months later a Goods Guard. He was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces a month after the outbreak of the war and enlisted at Rosebery Park immediately.
He joined the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on 12 April 1915, so probably landed at Gallipoli on Anzac Day or soon thereafter. Three weeks later he was certainly on Gallipoli, as it is recorded that he was promoted to Sergeant. He would seem to have served for virtually the duration of the Company Sergeant Major. He then travelled campaign, being evacuated only three weeks before the general evacuation in mid-December 1915, due to frostbite to his feet. In Egypt he was further promoted to through Marseilles to France, arriving in June 1916
He was killed in action at Pozières between 5 and 6 August 1916. Of particular anxiety to his family was the arrival in Werris Creek, of a telegram from him, apparently in London, stating ‘Am well, best love’, on 13 August, when he was in fact dead. The military later explained that telegrams from soldiers could take 18 days to deliver.
The uncertain dates of his death, indicate that his fate is unknown in detail, and his resting place is unknown. His name is recorded on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie.
(NAA B2455-3045642)
Submitted 10 May 2023 by John Oakes