William Brown Treeby MOYSEY MM

MOYSEY , William Brown Treeby

Service Numbers: 239, V352572
Enlisted: 9 March 1916
Last Rank: Captain
Last Unit: 5th Machine Gun Battalion
Born: Berwick, Victoria, Australia, 24 May 1887
Home Town: Morwell, Latrobe, Victoria
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Moe, Victoria, Australia, 14 September 1972, aged 85 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Hazelwood Cemetery, Victoria
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World War 1 Service

9 Mar 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 239, 2nd Machine Gun Company
4 May 1916: Involvement Private, 239, 2nd Machine Gun Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: ''
4 May 1916: Embarked Private, 239, 2nd Machine Gun Company, HMAT Port Lincoln, Melbourne
1 Mar 1918: Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 5th Machine Gun Company
24 Apr 1918: Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 239, 5th Machine Gun Company, Gassed - France
30 Sep 1918: Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 5th Machine Gun Company
24 Jan 1919: Honoured Military Medal, Commonwealth Gazette No. 61
7 Nov 1919: Embarked AIF WW1, Sergeant, 239, 5th Machine Gun Battalion, per SS Dongarra for Melbourne, Victoria
12 Mar 1920: Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 239, 5th Machine Gun Battalion

World War 2 Service

23 Mar 1942: Enlisted V352572
31 Oct 1945: Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Captain, V352572, A Coy 7 Battalion VDC

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

William was the second of six children of William Henry Moysey (born 1861 at Moorabbin, Victoria) and Maria (Marie) Anna Rebekka Aurisch (born 1865 in Berwick, Victoria). Willam Snr was a Farmer at Narre Warren in Victoria when he and Marie married in Sydney, NSW in 1884. They settled in the Gippsland Region in Victoria where William Snr was an Orcardist and Farmer. In 1902, William Snr issued a warrant for the arrest of William Jnr (then 15 years of age) for Vagrancy in Melbourne. In 1922 William Snr shot himself, and Maria remarried in 1931.

William worked as a Miner at Wonthaggi before returning to Jumbuk in the Gippsland Region and establishing himself as a Farmer at Jaralang Junction at Morwell in 1914. He enlisted in the AIF in March 1916 and served as a Private (Service No:239) with 2nd Machine Gun Coy. He served with 15th Machine Gun Coy Aircraft Guard and 5th Machine Gun Battalion, and was a Sergeant with 5th Machine Gun Battalion when he was Discharged in 1920. William took leave in England in June 1919 to work on a Poultry Farm in Kent, and it could be that he met a woman there with intentions to bring her home to Australia to marry - the ADF received a letter from relatives of the woman requesting William's address and information about his character, work ethic and employment prospects (National Archives Australia). William remained a bachelor.

In 1919 William was awarded the Military Medal - 'During the advance from Villers-Brettoneux on the morning of 8th August 1918, this NCO was temporarily cut off from his section officer owing to the density of the fog that prevailed at the time. Whilst situated so, he found himself faced with strong opposition from an enemy post. He organised his party and successfully fought his way through, which enabled him to bring his two guns into action from a flank into line with the advancing Infantry. His capable and gallant leadership whilst temporarily detached from his section officer, materially assisted towards the success of the operation' (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No: 61; 23 May 1919).

Returning to Jaralang Junction in Morwell, Victoria, Willaim resumed farming, and under the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act 1917, expanding his grazing land holdings at Mount Bute. William died in 1972.

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