HIGGINS, William James
| Service Number: | 1722 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 June 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Clydesdale, Victoria, Australia, 1886 |
| Home Town: | Richmond (V), Yarra, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Blacksmith |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, 14 October 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
Walkers Ridge Cemetery Plot 11, Row C, Grave 7 Chaplain K.S. Single officiated Headstone inscription reads: A loving son true & kind a beautiful memory left behind |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Jun 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1722, 20th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 1722, 20th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Kanowna embarkation_ship_number: A61 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 1722, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kanowna, Sydney |
Help us honour William James Higgins's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of Joseph and Annie Higgins of 83 Grey Street East, Melbourne, Victoria formerly of Morton Street, Burnley, Victoria
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal issued to the mother
Served a 5 year apprenticeship with Ewain of Richmond, Melbourne
Biography contributed by Allen Hancock
William James Higgins was born on 28 September 1886 at Newstead Victoria, the son of Joseph Higgins and Annie Martin. Not long after William’s birth the family moved to Richmond.
As a young man William was indentured to E Wain of Richmond as an apprentice blacksmith and by 1915 he was well established in that trade. Three months short of his 29th birthday, on 5 June 1915, William enlisted in the AIF for service with the 20th Infantry Battalion embarking from Sydney two weeks later aboard the troopship Kanowna for Egypt. On 31 August 1915 William joined the 20th Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli.
At the time William joined the battalion they had only been on the peninsula for two weeks and were occupying trenches at the area known as Russell’s Top. The unit’s diary shows no specific actions during the next two months, simply stating “In occupation of trenches”. The entry for 14 October shows “one man killed”. (1)
That man was William Higgins.
William was buried at Russell’s Top and for many years his actual grave was unknown. The remains of those buried there were later exhumed and relocated to the cemetery located at Walker’s Ridge where William’s remains were identified and his grave formally recorded.
(1) Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War. – Infantry – 20th Infantry Battalion - October 1915 AWM4 23/37/3 https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1343451