BEWS, William
| Service Number: | 493 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 July 1915, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 31st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Gallowcairn, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, July 1888 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Torphins Public School, Aberdeenshire |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 19 January 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
AIF Burial Ground, Grass Lane, Flers, France Plot 1 Row D Grave 3. , AIF Burial Ground, Flers, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 493, Brisbane, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 493, 31st Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Nov 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 493, 31st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Melbourne | |
| 19 Jan 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 493, 31st Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour William Bews's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
There are five Australian soldier casualties of the Great War honoured on this memorial and also a Pilot Officer of the Royal Australian Air Force who died in WWII.
The others are:
Trooper JOHN WILLIAM GAVIN, 1385 Australian Expeditionary Force, 9th Light Horse
Private GEORGE GORDON, 1683 50th Bn Australian Infantry.
Lt Col JOHN ALEXANDER MILNE, DSO 36th Bn Australian Expeditionary Force
L/cpl JOHN THOMSON, 1273 Australian Army Medical Corps 15th Field Ambulance
Pilot Officer WILLIAM GEORGE CRUICKSHANK, Royal Australian Air Force
Kincardine O'Neil - Kincardine & Deeside District
UKNIWM Ref No. 5854
The people of Torphins decided to build a memorial hospital and it was named the Kincardine O'Neil Memorial Hospital. It is therefore possible that the names listed on this Kincardine O'Neil memorial are the same as those listed on the Torphins monument.
The Kincardine O'Neil war memorial is a rustic granite pillar with a pinkish hue set on a pedestal with an inverted sword carved in shallow relief on the face of the pillar. The pedestal is set into a rough cairn of tumbled boulders. The commemoration and names of the dead are listed on dressed granite tablets set into the face of the pedestal.
The monument stands in gardens by the roadside of the A93 in the village.
Enlisted Brisbane, Queensland.
He was 28 and the 3rd son of Mrs Bews, Torphins, Aberdeenshire.
Aberdeen Daily Journal Roll of Honour: 8-2-17:
Son of David Bews, North Footie, Torphins.
1891 Census: 2/10/41 Gallowcairn: Age 2.
1901 Census: 6/10/41 North Footie: Mother Jessie Bews.
1918-19 Voter’s Roll: David Bews, Farmer, North Footie, Kincardine O’Neil.
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
William went to Australia in 1911 and settled in Queensland, where he took up agricultural work. He volunteered for Imperial Service and joined the 31st Battalion AIF in July 1915, went to Egypt in November and served in France and Flanders from May 1916. He was wounded in July and invalided to England and returned to France in November. He was killed in action 19 January 1917 and buried behind the line where he fell.
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