7019
RULE, William Victor
| Service Number: | 215 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Oamaru, New Zealand, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Kapunda, Light, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Commercial Traveller |
| Died: | Circumstances of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Grand Masonic Lodge WW1 Honour Board (2), Kapunda District WW1 Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Oct 1914: | Involvement Sergeant, 215, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Oct 1914: | Embarked Sergeant, 215, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Port Lincoln, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Sergeant, 215 | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 215, 4th Divisional Ammunition Column |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
William Victor Rule, son of Mrs W. Smith, was born and raised in Oamaru, New Zealand. Married to Renee Rule, prior to the war he resided at the Commercial Travellers' Club while working as a travelling salesman in Kapunda, South Australia. He was described as five feet nine inches tall, weighing 151 pounds, with a fair complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair. As per his later Attestation papers, he stated his religious denomination as Methodist.
At the age of 32 years, Rule enlisted as a soldier in World War I on 19 August 1914, in Morphettville, South Australia. His rank on enlistment was Sergeant of the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. He embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board the HMAT A17 at Port Lincoln on 22 October 1914.
Eight months after his departure, Rule was promoted to Corporal on 5 June 1915. Shortly after, he was wounded at Pope's Hill on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Türkiye and sent to the hospital on 11 August 1915, after the 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment launched a disastrous assault on the Nek from Russell's Top. Five weeks later, Rule earned a promotion to Temporary Sergeant and subsequently advanced to the position of Vice Sergeant on 29 December 1915.
On 5 May 1916, he arrived at Tel-El-Kebir, Egypt, a significant base for the Australian Imperial Force, to participate in training, where he joined the 4th Division Artillery. At an artillery training depot, Rule provided fire support for the 4th Division, which fought on the Western Front after being formed. Seven months later, he was deployed overseas to Étaples, known for its massive and notorious British army base camp in northern France. He trained with the Field Artillery Brigade for one month before being taken on strength by the 4th Division Ammunition Column.
Rule sustained a serious gunshot wound to his left leg after eight months of battle on 29 September 1917. It can be assumed that his injury was inflicted during a battle at Hellfire Corner, a notoriously dangerous crossroads on the Menin Road in the Ypres Salient, Belgium. He was then taken to England by a Saint John's ambulance and admitted into the 1st Eastern General Hospital in Cambridge. A year later, on 8 June 1918, his records stated that as a result of the gunshot wound which had fractured his tibia, he was transferred to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital and, ten days later, discharged to the 3rd Command Depot.
After recovering, Rule was granted a 75-day long service furlough in the U.K. on 7 February 1919 and allowed to return to Australia on 9 August 1919. His last service record indicates that his final unit was the 4th Divisional Ammunition Column, during which he received three promotional changes during his war service. He was awarded the 1914/15 Star, conferred on soldiers who served in any theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915. He also received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, which commemorated the Allied victory, as well as the King’s Silver War Badge, issued to service personnel honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness from military service.