William HEARD

HEARD, William

Service Number: 2654
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1)
Born: Devonshire, England, 15 January 1896
Home Town: Auburn, Auburn, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Railway Workshop Wood Machinist
Died: Killed in Action, Belgium, 7 June 1917, aged 21 years
Cemetery: No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Menin Gate Memorial
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient)
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World War 1 Service

7 Oct 1916: Involvement Private, 2654, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: ''
7 Oct 1916: Embarked Private, 2654, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Ceramic, Sydney

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Biography contributed by John Oakes

William HEARD (Service Number 2654) was born in Devonshire, England, on 15th January 1896.  His mother died when he was only a few months old, and he was adopted by his mother’s sister and her husband, who were living in Auburn, NSW.  He joined the NSW Government Railways as a shop boy at Eveleigh in February 1914. When he enlisted in the AIF in Bathurst in February 1916 gave his ‘trade or calling’ as ‘Wood Machinist’.  He had some years’ experience in the Militia.

He embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Ceramic’ in October 1916. He landed in England in November.  He was Absent Without Leave for one day from camp and punished by confinement to barracks for seven days and the forfeiture of a day’s pay.  In January 1917 he was sent to France with other reinforcements, and ‘taken on strength’ by the 45th Battalion. 

He was reported ‘missing in action’ on 7th June 1917. A Court of Enquiry held nine months later found that he had been killed in action ‘on the flat near Messines Ridge’ on that day.  He has no known grave but is remembered with honour on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial. 

A war pension was granted to his aunt, who had been his foster-mother.

- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board

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