Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From Australian Remembrance Army

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺 𝗛𝗲𝗻𝗿𝘆 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻
Service No: 809
Rank: Private
Unit: 3rd Machine Gun Battalion

Last Saturday our group of volunteers restored the lettering to two civilian granite headstones for WW1 veterans James Joseph Bretherton and William Henry Ryan. Today, we share the story of Private William Henry Ryan.

(We always have permission from family/descendants of these veterans as well as permission from Brisbane City Council before commencing any work on a grave or headstone.)
~~~~~~~~~~

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺 𝗛𝗲𝗻𝗿𝘆 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻 was born as William Henry Cowan in 1893 in Brisbane to parents Mary Ann O’Sullivan Ryan and Henry William Cowan and was the second eldest of five children born to Mary and Henry (4 sons and 1 daughter). William’s mother Mary had been married previously and he had five half-siblings. At some stage after the children were born, William’s father took Mary’s married name of Ryan.

On the 20th March 1917, William enlisted with the AIF in Brisbane, Queensland and was sent to the Machine Gun Depot in Seymour, Victoria. He was at the Depot in Seymour from the 2nd June until the 26th November, whilst also spending two weeks in the Isolation Camp, Ascot Vale (5th – 18th October).
He embarked at Melbourne per SS “Indarra” on the 26th November 1917, disembarking in Suez on the 27th December. William left from Port Said on the 9th January 1918 on board HMT “Kashgar” landing in Taranto, Italy 11 days later. From Taronto, he was entrained to Cherbourg, France where William was admitted to hospital with measles on the 1st February.

He was transferred to Codford, England where he was treated before being transferred to 3rd Machine Gun Battalion in Grantham on the 10th April. He proceeded overseas to France via Folkestone on the 18th June 1918, arriving on the 22nd June where he served in the field for nine months. William was granted leave from France on the 15th March 1919 for two days before rejoining his unit.

On the 10the April 1919, William was attached to the Graves Registration Detachment (Australian Burial Corps) in France. Based in Villers-Bretonneux and the surrounding area, the unit was tasked with locating, identifying and reburying Australian war dead on the Western Front. 

On the 31st July, William was sent to hospital sick and was transferred to the 51st General Hospital for treatment. He was discharged to No 2 Group in Bulford, England on the 24th September and returned to Australia per “Pakeha” on the 6th October, disembarking in Australia on the 24th November 1919.

On his return to Australia, William lived at Goodna in Queensland with his parents at Russel Hill and worked as a labourer. In August of 1922, William married Nellie Fahey and the couple lived at Sandgate, a suburb north of Brisbane where William worked as an Attendant. William and Nellie were living in Bowen Hills in 1936 where William worked as a laundryman before moving to Hill Street, Fortitude Valley.

William Henry Ryan died at the age of 50 years in Brisbane Hospital on the 20th February 1944. His death is stated to be from a fracture of the skull. William was buried on the 22nd February at Lutwyche Cemetery and was survived by his wife, Nellie. He did not have any children.

Lest We Forget