William James (Bill) COX

COX, William James

Service Number: 1603
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 1st Light Horse Regiment
Born: Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, Australia, 28 July 1899
Home Town: Kangaroo Valley, Shoalhaven Shire, New South Wales
Schooling: Barrengarry Public School, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation: Dairy Farmer
Died: Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, Australia, 30 June 1974, aged 74 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Kangaroo Valley Cemetery, Shoalhaven City, New South Wales
Memorials:
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World War 1 Service

9 Nov 1915: Involvement Private, 1603, 1st Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Beltana embarkation_ship_number: A72 public_note: ''
9 Nov 1915: Embarked Private, 1603, 1st Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Beltana, Sydney

Loved by the Valley Community

William (Bill) Cox was the older brother of 283 Sgt. Charles Cox, born 28 July 1889 at Kangaroo Valley NSW. He enlisted on 3 August 1915 at the age of 26, the same day as William Mathers, William Merchant and Philip Lidbetter also of the Valley. He was single and working for his uncle Arthur Watson as a dairy farmer.

Assigned to the 1st Light Horse Regiment, Bill Cox embarked on the HMAT Beltana from Sydney on 9 November 1915. Phil Lidbetter, also in the 1st LH, was on this departure.

Bill did not land at Gallipoli this late in the campaign and instead went directly to Egypt and the Sinai for the war against the Turks. From January to May 1916 the 1st LH was deployed to protect the Nile Valley from bands of pro-Turkish Senussi Arabs.

The climate around the Nile was harsh and Bill was hospitalised for two weeks in March with (West) Nile Fever, a mosquito born virus that caused fever, headaches, muscle pain, fatigue and nausea. A vaccine to combat this virulent tropical disease has yet to be developed.

On his return from hospital Bill managed to stir the army bureaucracy by being absent from a Muster Parade on the 7 April 1916. He was penalised four days confined to barracks.

The Valley recruits kept close tabs on each other’s movements and wrote of each meeting and passing into their letters. This news was quickly passed on to the other families back in the Valley. To those waiting at home, any news was good news. 2926 Sgt. Eric Tate, a prolific letter writer, mentioned in his letter of 8 December 1915 that Bill Cox had landed in Egypt when he was stationed at Cairo. He later wrote on 25 January 1916:
“I saw Cox and Phil [Lidbetter] on Sunday. Cox is looking splendid. He is something over a stone heavier than he was a month ago.”

Army life was agreeing with Bill Cox. He had certainly put on condition from his rugby league playing days a year before.

Re-assigned to Artillery Detail while in the Middle East, Bill then entered France on 13 August 1916 as a Gunner for the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade (2nd FAB). He joined the 6th Battery of the 2nd FAB here on 20 August as they bombarded enemy positions in front of the strategic town of Albert, France.

Fred Wright wrote home that George Randall had seen Bill Cox on 7 September 1916 and that Bill Mathers had also seen him on 17 September 1916 at the Ottawa Camp near Poperinghe.

It would seem that Bill had a sense of moment and a sense of humour when he took the opportunity to play “dress-ups” during a photo session while on leave in England in September 1917. He sent home postcards of himself in full Scottish regalia complete with kilt, sporran and bagpipes. The Australians were known to respect the Scots and their fighting spirit, and Bill most likely had some Scottish ancestry.

Bill was continuously engaged with the 2nd FAB in the field in France and Belgium until the end of the war. He escaped injury despite the artillerymen suffering significant casualties when accurate German counter barrage fire was routinely aimed at them.

Bill was on leave in Glasgow when the armistice was announced. He left England on 12 April 1919 and arrived back in Australia on 6 June 1919, to be discharged on 29 July. Returning to farming he paid 201 Guineas for the prize bull Tramp from the Tate estate sale in April 1920. As luck would have it, shortly after the animal became badly entangled and injured in fencing wire and had to be destroyed.

Bill then bought a truck and for a time took up work with his brother Charles transporting milk from the Valley to the Nowra milk factory. He narrowly escaped death in April 1928 when he lost control of his fully laden truck while traversing the Cambewarra Mountain. Experience and good fortune saw him escape with minor facial injuries. Better still, his beloved truck only suffered a broken spring. He continued this work and general carrying as W.J Cox and Sons until his retirement.

He is fondly remembered by Mrs. Mary Newing (6777 Os McClelland’s daughter) as the man “.. who had a license to swear.”
Mary also related how as a four year-old she would hide under the bed when he arrived at the door because he had once told her he “… was going to kidnap her and put her in a milk churn.”

Betty Todd (3358 William Mathers’ daughter) remembered him similarly and told how he would pull the milk truck up alongside the many Mathers children as they straggled off to school of a morning, saying to them:
“Come on and get up here you buggers if you are coming.” They loved him for it.

Bill married Maggie May Wright in the Valley in 1924. Maggie was Fred and Tom Wright’s older sister. She had been in Bill’s thoughts while he was on active service as he wrote to her on several occasions.

They lived together in the Valley for the rest of their days. Bill passed away on 30 June 1974, aged 84 years and is buried in the Kangaroo Valley General Cemetery. His obituary reflected the considerable respect and esteem with which he was held in the community:

“Born in Kangaroo Valley, he lost his parents in his early youth; with opportunities few he worked hard; mostly on dairy farms. On returning from the war he married Mary Wright (who survives him) and he worked in the milk and general "carrying" business in Kangaroo Valley in the earliest stage in association with his brother, the late C E Cox and subsequently as W J Cox and Son; until the time of his retirement from the business at the commencement of the bulk "pick-up".
His long association with the carrying business in Kangaroo Valley by no means an easy occupation earned for him the goodwill of many people who acknowledged his general approach to obliging service; and this was amply demonstrated by the large and representative gathering at the funeral service in the Church of "The Good Shepherd" and later at the Kangaroo Valley Cemetery where the Rector, Rev. Alan Guyer, paid a high tribute to a long life so dedicated to the welfare of a small district community. Members of the RSL and AILA paid their last respects by acting as pall bearers and a contribution in ritual form at the graveside. Relatives and friends from near and far were present to join in the message of sympathy to his bereaved wife, daughter Jean Sheedy and sons Jack and Hilton Cox.”

Maggie survived him until 19 June 1989, aged 88 years.

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