WILLIAMS, Kelsey Norman
| Service Number: | 2430 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 May 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 11th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Rockhampton, Rockhampton, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 3 August 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Bus House Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gracemere Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 10 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Aug 1915: | Involvement Private, 2430, 15th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2430, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Shropshire, Sydney | |
| 3 Aug 1917: | Involvement Gunner, 2430, 11th Field Artillery Brigade , Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2430 awm_unit: 11th Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1917-08-03 |
Help us honour Kelsey Norman Williams's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Phelan
Gunner Kelsey Norman Williams 2430 – Bus House Cemetery G2, take Sint-Elooisweg NW 450m to Voormezele
Kelsey Williams enlisted on 5 May 1915 in Rockhampton. He gave his address as “Stanleigh” The Range and his family owned a large hardware business in William St, Rockhampton. He was 23 and 9 months when he enlisted and at that time he had served 1 ½ years in the cadets and 1 year in the Light Horse.
He left Australia with the 7th reinforcements and joined the 15th Infantry Battalion on Lemnos in October. The 15th Battalion embarked for the Gallipoli Peninsula and landed in the early hours of 2 November 1915 and undertook various tasks there until the evacuation on 13 December. From there the Australians and New Zealanders went to the camps outside of Cairo where a reorganisation took place. Two additional divisions were formed in Egypt and many experienced soldiers went to the new battalions. Williams was a bit different. For some reason, he left the 15th Infantry Battalion and joined the artillery in the 11th Field Artillery Brigade, 42nd Battery. After training in Egypt, 11 Field Artillery Brigade arrived in Marseille in June 1916. There is no information on the circumstances of his death that occurred on 3 August 1917. However, interestingly, there are at least two monuments to his memory: one in the old Rockhampton Cemetery on Dawson Rd and the other on the Yeppoon foreshore. His mother donated a small drinking fountain to be installed to the memory of her son and it has an accompanying marble plaque. The drinking fountain is unlikely to be the original as it is made of stainless steel and looks to be a mid-20th century design, however it is a credit to the council that it is still in place. In the old Rockhampton Cemetery there is a grave monument over what appears to be his parents grave. It was not uncommon for sons killed overseas to be memorialised on family plots, there are a number of these instances in the Rockhampton Cemetery. It appears that his sister is also buried there. A close look at the dates reveals a very sad tale for that family: the sister, Phyllis, died 21 October 1915 aged 20, Kelsey died 3 August 1917 aged 24, Harriet, his mother died 5 August 1919 and the father Herbert died 18 August 1924. There are other family members on the memorial but it’s not clear what their relationship to Kelsey was.
Click images to start slideshow.