WILLIAMS, Herbert Lewis
| Service Number: | 5238 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 60th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, April 1897 |
| Home Town: | Richmond (V), Yarra, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Coach Trimmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 4 July 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
Mericourt-L'Abbe Communal Cemetery Extension Mericourt-L'Abbe Communal Cemetery Extension, Mericourt-L'Abbe, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 5238, 58th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 5238, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Suffolk embarkation_ship_number: A23 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 5238, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suffolk, Melbourne | |
| 4 Jul 1918: | Involvement Sergeant, 5238, 60th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 5238 awm_unit: 60th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1918-07-04 | |
| 4 Jul 1918: | Involvement Sergeant, 5238, 60th Infantry Battalion, Following reporting in sick with scabies 17 March, 1918, Herby returned to his unit 26 March, 1918. He was killed in action on 4 July, 1918. |
Help us honour Herbert Lewis Williams's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Linda Neate
A little photograph, 4" x 2", was sent to Herbert, and was returned, with his effects, to his family in Richmond following his death. The photograph, crumpled and blotchy, featured two of Herbert's mates - Albert Edward Neate, known as Ginger Mick and Mick, and Robert (Bob) Burton.
Many years later, Albert attached a short explanatory note to the photograph -
"This photo was taken off an original photo about 4" x 2" by a Kodak box camera.
"Photo taken in 1916 sent to Pte Herbert of the 60th Bn 1st AIF subsequently killed in action France 1916.
"I am on the right in uniform as a universal trainee senior cadets. The chap on the left of photo is or was later in RAN CPO Engine Room Artificer in 1921. Why someone had to mark him with a X I will never for he had been a mate of Herby Williams long before I came on the scene. Bob and I were mates. The original photo was returned to Australia with the dead soldier's belongings.
"It is interesting to note that Herbert's brother Percy Williams was killed in action around the same time as his younger brother.
"It is also my desire to say that there [sic] sister Rita met a sad and tragic death in Australia
"As record by Albert Edward Neate (Mick)"
Herbert's enlistment records indicates that
- he was a Senior Cadet for four years at Richmond- maybe he and "Mick" met through that common connection, and
- as a Coach Trimmer, he completed a 5-year Coach Trimmer apprenticeship with Coffey Bros., of Church Street, South Richmond.
- Herbert was transferred to the 60th Battalion 21 July, 1916, not an uncommon event as units were depleted and merged.
Herbert memorial gravestone is in Mericourt-L'Abbe Communal Cemetery Extention, and his inscription reads "LOVED BY ALL WHO KNEW HIM".
Herbert's father, Leonard, was a musician, and with children born in Queensland and Newcastle, NSW, and back to Victoria, the family must have travelled around a bit. Two children died before they were ten, two died in France as serving members of the AIF in WW1, and the sister Alice Rita, known as Rita, married Cecil Cairns, had a baby, Shirley, and they lived with Cecil's family in Tasmania. On 17 March, 1927, Rita did not feel well, and, while in her room unattended, drank a bottle of Lysol disinfectant. Described as "generally in pretty good health" and "cheerful", the shock to the family was enormous. The inquest verdict was "suicide by poison".
Rita's parents, now having lost all of their five children, were devastated. Regular "In Memoriam" notices were inserted by Rita and her parents following her brothers' deaths, and the parents continued the notices with the addition of their daughter:
"Their duty nobly done", and "Love and remembrance will last forever".
Click images to start slideshow.