HANNAM, William Henry
| Service Number: | 2196 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Mendooran, New South Wales, Australia , 1894 |
| Home Town: | Mudgee, Mid-Western Regional, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Printer |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 21 February 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gilgandra District Roll of Honor, Gilgandra War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2196, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 2196, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 2196, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Wiltshire, Sydney |
Help us honour William Henry Hannam's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
William Hannam was known as “Billy” Hannam and was well known in the Gilgandra area. He worked as a linotype operator for Gilgandra’s first newspaper, known as “The Castlereagh” up until his enlistment.
He was only in the front line on the Western Front for about two months when he was killed by the explosion of a trench mortar shell in his trench.
Mrs. Annie Hannam, of Gilgandra, received the following letter from a soldier, 1941 Pte. Leonard James Jordan of the 45th Battalion (later Lieutenant), written from England on 26 February 1917 and published in the Gilgandra Weekly shortly after: “I am writing this to let you know that I was with your son when he was killed last week. I can only tell you (as one of his best friends) that he was killed almost outright by a piece of German shell. He was conscious right up to the last, and asked me to let you know. I did what I could for him, but he was too badly wounded for any aid to be of any use. He died as gamely as any man could die. We were both with his cousin, Arthur Hobbs, when he was killed a couple of days before. He was killed almost instantly. They were my two best friends, and I can't tell you how sorry I feel, both for them and for you. I had the bad luck to get a slight wound myself a little later, and am now in hospital in England. Yours in deepest sympathy.”
William’s brother, Charles Hannam also served with the 7th Light Horse Regiment and returned to Australia.
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