TIER, William Bernard
| Service Number: | 3187 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 53rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cobar, New South Wales, Australia, 14 June 1885 |
| Home Town: | Stanmore, Marrickville, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tram Conductor |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 20 December 1916, aged 31 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Remembered at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Cobar War Memorial, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Tempe Newtown Tramway Depot Honour Roll, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 17th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 3187, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Suevic embarkation_ship_number: A29 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 3187, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suevic, Sydney | |
| 16 Feb 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 55th Infantry Battalion, From 17th Infantry Battalion to 5th Training Brigade at Zeltoun (Egypt) and then to 55th Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir (Egypt). | |
| 26 Mar 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Gunner, 5th Division Artillery , Transferred at Ferry Post (Egypt). | |
| 20 Dec 1916: | Involvement Private, 3187, 53rd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3187 awm_unit: 53rd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-12-20 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
William Bernard TIER (Service Number 3187) was born on 14th June 1885 at Cobar. He was a casual tram conductor in Sydney from 18th April 1911 and became permanent on 24th March 1912.
Tier was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 12th August 1915 and enlisted at Sydney a couple of weeks later. He was unmarried and his father was dead. Therefore he nominated his mother, Mary Tier of Stanmore as his next of kin.
He was allotted to the 7th Reinforcements to the 17th Battalion. Tier embarked HMAT ‘Suevic’ at Sydney on 20th December 1915. When the ship reached Egypt in the new year he was at first briefly attached to the 5th Training Brigade at Zeitoun but on 16th February 1916 he was allotted to the 55th Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir. On 26 March he was again transferred, now to the 5th Division Artillery at Ferry Post. He mustered as ‘gunner’ in the 58th Battery, and in April and as ‘Driver’ in the 15th Brigade Divisional Ammunition Column.
In May he was charged with drunkenness and disorderly conduct in the AIF Artillery canteen and forfeited 10 days’ pay as a penalty.
On 2nd August he embarked at Alexandria for passage to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France on board ‘Franconia’. He reached the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples on 7th October 1916. He now transferred to the 53rd Battalion, designated as a Private.
Tier was killed in action on 20th December 1916.
Cpl E V Moyes (3129) described what happened.
‘Tier was my pal. On Dec 20th he was in an advanced bombing post. They had been relieved and were coming back in to the front line. There was too much mud in the sap and so they came over the top. When they got to a certain spot where it was the regular thing to be fired on he got hit and killed straight out. This was at a place beyond Ginchy. It was a place where it was impossible to bury the dead at the time, so I know nothing about his burial.’
The location of the burial was lost. Tier has no known grave and he is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
A pension of £2 per fortnight was granted to Tier’s mother, Mary, from 9th March 1917, but applications from his brother John Stanisclaus, and sister Mary Patricia, were rejected as they were not dependant on their deceased brother.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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