SENN, William Albert Leonard
| Service Number: | 4411 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 53rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Maylands, South Australia, Australia, 5 May 1890 |
| Home Town: | Haberfield, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Traveller |
| Died: | Illness - Dysentery Colitis, Caufield, Victoria, Australia, 5 July 1943, aged 53 years |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale War Cemetery, Melbourne, Victoria War Graves located in section of the Springvale Botanical Cemetery. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4411, 1st Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 4411, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Sydney | |
| 20 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 4411, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 16 Feb 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 54th Infantry Battalion | |
| 12 Nov 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 54th Infantry Battalion | |
| 16 Feb 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 54th Infantry Battalion | |
| 28 May 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Company Sergeant Major, 54th Infantry Battalion | |
| 17 Aug 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 54th Infantry Battalion | |
| 23 Dec 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 54th Infantry Battalion | |
| 16 Oct 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 53rd Infantry Battalion |
World War 2 Service
| 23 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Royal Park, VIC |
|---|
Help us honour William Albert Leonard Senn's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
William's details from 1890 to 1919
Personnal Details
His parents were Albert Edwin Senn and Friedeericke Wilhelmine "Minnie" Hoffmann. He married Evelyn Blackman in 1921, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. William and Evelyn has one child, Arthur Edward Senn, who was born on the 12 November 1922.
Occupation
In 1913, at 22 years of age, he was living with his parents in the town of Warialda, N.S.W., Australia, and was working as a hairdresser. On his enlistment into World War One, in 1915, he stated his occupation as a "Traveller", possibly a travelling salesman.
War Record
William enlisted on the 6th August 1915 in Liverpool, N.S.W., Australia, at the age of 25. His rise in the protional ranks was swift, becoming a Lieutenant by August 1917, exactly two years after enlisting. He served in Frace in the 54th Battalion. On the 9 April 1918, William became ill and was admitted to the 2nd Station Clearance Hospitalin Abbeville, then was transferred to the 3rd London General Hospital in Wardsworth, on the 3 November 1918. On the 25 January 1919, William was returned home to Australia on the ship Ceramic, suffering from Cardiac Insufficiency (Heart unable to pump enough blood for circulation) and Myalgia (Muscle aches). He stayed at the 21st Australian Auxillary Hospital at Headland Park, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia.
William's details from 1920 - 1943: see his WW2 record.
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From How We Served
The final resting place for;- V4599 Lieutenant William Alfred Leonard Senn (4411) of Haberfield, New South Wales and Caulfield, Victoria had been employed as a traveler when he enlisted for War Service on the 1st of August 1915, and was allocated to reinforcements for the 1st Battalion 1st AIF.
William was embarked for Egypt on the 20th of December and following his arrival he was transferred to the 54th Battalion, with which he was shipped to France with, arriving on the 29th of June 1916.
Whilst in Egypt, William had been temporarily attached to the Australian Army Medical Corps, but was returned to his Battalion, and once arrived in France, William was officially taken on strength with the 14th Field Ambulance on the 6th of October, but was returned to his Battalion on detachment as a medical orderly.
William’s service in the trenches was to be continuous, and by the 28th of May 1917, he was promoted to Company Sergeant Major, and within a few months after this he received his Commission as a Second Lieutenant on the 10th of August.
Aside brief bouts of sickness, and time spent in Training Schools, William’s front-line service was to be uninterrupted, until he was availed a short respite of Leave to England between the 15th to the 29th of August 1918.
In the closing stages of the War, William was transferred to the 53rd Battalion on the 11th of October but within weeks of this he was evacuated sick, suffering debility on the 28th of October.
William was admitted into the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital at Abbeville, before being sent back to England, from where he began his repatriation to Australia as an invalid on the 25th of January 1919.
Having returned to Australia, William would spend further time being hospitalized for the debility he had suffered whilst on War Service, and his official appointment with the 1st AIF was terminated on the 26th of January 1920, for his re-entry into civilian life.
With the outbreak of a second World War, William again presented himself for service on the 23rd of July 1940.
Commissioned as a Lieutenant, William would serve with Training Battalions in Victoria, before being taken on strength with the 8th Employment Company.
William’s service would see him posted to various camps in Victoria, which would only be interrupted by sickness, which would see him hospitalized at the 115th Australian General Hospital (Heidelberg), and following this he was returned to duty.
By the start of September 1942 William had been posted to 3rd Military District Land Headquarters, and whilst serving with this formation he again was hospitalized for illness being admitted into the Repatriation General Hospital (Caulfield) on the 27th of June 1943.
Whilst still a patient, William succumbed to illness on the 4th of July, at the age of 53.
Following his passing Lieutenant William Senn, a veteran of two World Wars, was officially interred within the Springvale War Cemetery, Victoria.
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