CROCKFORD, William Henry
| Service Number: | 399 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 September 1914, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 9th Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 1888 |
| Home Town: | Mount Clear, Ballarat North, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 1950, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Ballarat New Cemetery and Crematorium, Victoria |
| Memorials: | Werribee Honour Roll, Werribee St Thomas' Church of England Honor Board |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 399, 9th Light Horse Regiment, Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 9th Light Horse Regiment, Melbourne, Vic. | |
| 11 Feb 1915: | Involvement Corporal, 399, 9th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Karroo embarkation_ship_number: A10 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Feb 1915: | Embarked Corporal, 399, 9th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Karroo, Melbourne | |
| 20 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 399, 9th Light Horse Regiment, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 6 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 399, 9th Light Horse Regiment, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli | |
| 28 Aug 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 399, 9th Light Horse Regiment, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli, GSW to right arm sustained during the attack on Hill 60. Evacuated to England. | |
| 13 Nov 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Corporal, 399, 9th Light Horse Regiment, RTA 8 May 1916 and discharged as medically unfit (right arm). | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 399, 9th Light Horse Regiment |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
399 Corporal William Henry Crockford, C Squadron, 9th Light Horse Regiment, AIF
William Henry Crockford was born in Mount Clear, Ballarat in 1888. By 1914, the year war broke out and the year he enlisted in the AIF, he was living and working at St Leonard’s, part of greater Geelong.
His father – also William Henry Crockford - was living at the Camp Hotel in Werribee, while his mother and the person recorded as next of kin on his attestation papers, was living at Mount Clear, Ballarat.
He enlisted aged 25 on 21 September 1914 and joined C Squadron, 9th Light Horse Regiment. The Regiment was formed in Adelaide and trained in Melbourne between October 1914 and February 1915. Around three-quarters of its contingent were South Australians with the balance made up of recruits from Melbourne.
He was promoted to Corporal on 1 January 1915 and, following basic training, sailed to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on 11 February, landing first in Egypt and then at Gallipoli.
His unit was deployed as infantry reinforcements in late May 1915. On the day he was wounded, the Regiment suffered almost 50 per cent casualties as they assaulted Hill 60, on 27 August 1915. The attack failed and the battle for Hill 60 will be remembered not just for the sacrifice of Australian troops, but it became the last major assault of the Gallipoli campaign, even though the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force wasn’t evacuated until December 1915.
Corporal William Crockford was evacuated first to Mudros in Greece and then to England for treatment to his wounded arm. He left England in early May 1916 and was discharged from service as a consequence of his wounds in November that year.
He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Source: Wyndham history
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