William Patrick MOLLOY

MOLLOY, William Patrick

Service Number: 131
Enlisted: 2 December 1915
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 33rd Infantry Battalion
Born: Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia, 13 July 1892
Home Town: Armidale, Armidale Dumaresq, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Station Labourer
Died: Died of wounds, France, 18 April 1918, aged 25 years
Cemetery: Namps-au-Val British Cemetery, France
II:B:20,
Memorials: Armidale Memorial Fountain, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour
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World War 1 Service

2 Dec 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 131, 33rd Infantry Battalion
4 May 1916: Involvement Private, 131, 33rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Marathon embarkation_ship_number: A74 public_note: ''
4 May 1916: Embarked Private, 131, 33rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Marathon, Sydney
25 Mar 1917: Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 61 Infantry Battalion AMF
1 Sep 1917: Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 33rd Infantry Battalion
12 Oct 1917: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 131, 33rd Infantry Battalion, 1st Passchendaele
4 Apr 1918: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 131, 33rd Infantry Battalion, Villers-Bretonneux

Help us honour William Patrick Molloy's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Dan Molloy

William Patrick Molloy was born at Coonamble, NSW on 13 July 1892, the son of Patrick and Ann Molloy. A station hand on enlistment at Armidale on 2 December 1915, he was assigned to the 33rd Battalion’s ‘A’ Company, made up of men from Armidale and Tamworth.

He embarked on 4 May 1916 aboard HMAT A74 Marathon in what was a record 67 day trip to England. When the 33rd embarked for France on 22 November he remained behind in England with dental problems. During January 1917 denture work was carried out at No 4 Command Depot at Wareham.

William, joining other men recovering from wounds or illness, transferred into the 61st Battalion, part of  the newly formed 6th Division and continued training until mid-August when orders were received for men of the 3rd Division to proceed overseas to reinforce their original battalions. William proceeded to France and re-joined the 33rd on 1 September.  

William’s first involvement in a major battle was at the First Battle of Passchendaele in October.

In 1918, involvements included Hangard Wood on 30 March where many of the those who signed up with William at Armidale were killed and 1st Villers-Bretonneux.

Just before dawn on 17 April, the Germans heavily gassed the town with the 33rd incurring 291 casualties including William. He was transferred by the 55th Field Ambulance (Royal Army Medical Corps) to the 41st Casualty Clearing Station at Namps-au-Val, 35 kms south-west of Villers-Bretonneux, and died of his wounds on 18 April, 1918. William’s burial service was conducted by the Rev M C Burratt on 22 April, 1918.

Seven other members of the 33rd are buried in this cemetery including 665 Private J W Carpenter and 3371 Private James Shea, both members of William’s “A” Company who died from wounds received in the gas attacks on 17 and 18 April.

Eerily, a letter on the archival record was sent by the Australian Red Cross to 665 Private J W Carpenter on 22 August 1918 seeking personal information about William. The envelope is also scanned on the file and noted as “Return to Sender”. Private Carpenter died on 21 April 1918 and is buried five plots along from William at Plot II, Row B, Grave 25.

An unnamed member of William’s unit was quoted in a letter dated 11 September 1918 that while he was away from the unit when William was gassed, he said that he was “one of the finest fellows I ever met and absolutely fearless”.

 

References: Edwards, John 1996, Never a Backward Step: A History of the First 33rd Battalion, AIF, Beetong Books, South Grafton, NSW.

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7982649 (recordsearch.naa.gov.au)

https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1053280/document/5640951.PDF (s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com)

 

 

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