CARSWELL, William McFie
| Service Number: | 547 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1914, Randwick |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 1st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Rothesay, Buteshire, Scotland, September 1894 |
| Home Town: | Marrickville, Marrickville, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Chair Maker |
| Died: | Drowning, Taylor Bay, Mosman, New South Wales, Australia, 4 February 1923 |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemeteries & Crematorium, New South Wales Zone A Presbyterian; Section 06D; Grave 11024. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 547, 1st Infantry Battalion, Randwick | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 547, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 547, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Sydney | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 547, 1st Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 4 May 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 547, 1st Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, GSW arm - slight | |
| 16 Mar 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1st Infantry Battalion | |
| 18 Mar 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 1st Infantry Battalion | |
| 26 Apr 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1st Infantry Battalion | |
| 17 Mar 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sergeant, 547, 1st Infantry Battalion, German Spring Offensive 1918, Ravine Wood near Zillebeke, Belgium, Gas poisoning (severe) | |
| 6 Jun 1918: | Embarked AIF WW1, Sergeant, 547, 1st Infantry Battalion, HT Barambah, England for invaliding to Australia - arriving 31 July 1918. | |
| 26 Oct 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 547, 1st Infantry Battalion, Medically unfit |
Help us honour William McFie Carswell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Sergeant William McFie Carswell, Australian Expeditionary Force, born in 1894 at Rothesay, Bute, was the second son of Andrew Carswell, a Mercantile Marine Able Seaman, and Catherine Carswell, of Rothesay Bay, Llewellyn Street, Marrickville, Sydney, New South Wales. His siblings were John, Joan, Catherine, Andrew and Thomas. The family emigrated to Australia on SS Everton Grange from Liverpool arriving on 15 July 1910. Before enlisting at Randwick, New South Wales, on 17 September 1914, he was employed as a Chair Maker. On 5 April 1915, he embarked on HM Australian Transport Minnewaska for Gallipoli. On 4 May 1915, he sustained a gunshot wound to his right arm during the Gallipoli landings and, after treatment in Hospital, rejoined his unit on 25 July 1915. He had two further spells in hospital suffering from dysentery, then embarked for Southampton on 25 September 1917. He attended Officer and NCO's Training School at Durrington, Wiltshire, qualified as "good", and was promoted to Sergeant on 15 September 1917. He rejoined his battalion on 2 October 1917. On 23 May 1918, he was admitted to Horton War Hospital, Epsom, then No 4 Australian General Hospital, suffering from shell gas poisoning. A medical report dated 26 April 1918 stated that "he was gassed on active service and as a result he got conjunctivitis, laryngitis, bronchitis and gastritis. He is weak and in indifferent health and condition and is incapable of exertion. He gets dyspnea headache and pain in the chest region of his heart. There is persistent and well-marked tachycardia". The recommendation was that he should be sent home for six months. He then embarked on 6 June 1918 for return to Australia and was subsequently discharged at Sydney on 12 October 1918. His death was recorded at the City Coroner's Court, Sydney, on 16 February 1923.
He is one of 7 Australian soldier casualties of the Great War honoured on the Dunoon War Memorial .
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