KEARSEY, William
| Service Number: | 2341 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 April 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 33rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glen Innes, New South Wales, Australia, 14 May 1891 |
| Home Town: | Inverell, Inverell, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Coach builder |
| Died: | Natural causes, Inverell, New South Wales, Australia, 30 November 1971, aged 80 years |
| Cemetery: |
Inverell Cemetery, NSW |
| Memorials: | Guyra Public School Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2341, 33rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 2341, 33rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 2341, 33rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Sydney | |
| 3 Oct 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2341, 33rd Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, Deep wound between eyes - see pictures | |
| 14 Feb 1921: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2341, 33rd Infantry Battalion, Medical Discharge due to wounding |
Help us honour William Kearsey's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
The extraordinary story of Private William ‘Bill’ Kearsey.
Private Kearsey was badly injured in the action at Glencorse Wood during the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917, when artillery shrapnel hit him between the eyes, leaving a deep gash to his forehead, which ‘obliterated’ (according to his medical records) his sinuses. The injury was so devastating, the member of the 33rd Battalion was initially left for dead.
His face was operated on 29 times over an eighteen-month period before he was repatriated to Australia. Arriving home in May 1919, he took the advice often given to badly disfigured men... to live out of town in the bush, where there would be fewer stares or difficult questions.
He suffered severe sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, headaches and eye trouble. Fluids leaked from his nose and eyes, and the latter were usually red and sore, his left eye weeping puss.
Bill tried his hand at farming and, after several false starts, made a go of it as a farmer, cattle, and wool producer. He married at the age of 59 and was an active community member. It has been said of him... “He never expected anybody to do anything that he wouldn’t do. For a man who’d had his disfigurement and been knocked about so much by his wounds, he was a very successful man. He just got on with life.”
Bill passed away at age 80 in 1971 and is buried at the Inverell cemetery, NSW.
Bill Kearsey’s story is truly remarkable and I will include photographs in the comments section of him badly disfigured and also a photograph of him after all his operations on his face. Also I will include links that give you more information on the life of this incredible man.
Early 20th century plastic surgery, infection management, and anaesthesia rocketed in their advancement during a time when surgeons were faced with horrific injuries on the wards during WW1.
As many as 37,000 Australian soldiers returned home with shocking injuries and mental issues... the facially disfigured became socially marginalised on repatriation.
While some wore special custom made masks to conceal their missing ears, noses, mouths and jaws, others simply disappeared from normal civilian life by leaving their parents and wives, upon whom they were often dependant for spoon or tube feeding. They went into the bush, where they were less conspicuous.
Many others killed themselves or died in suspicious accidents.
Lest We Forget.
From Peter Barnes
Click images to start slideshow.