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KELLY, William Philip John
Personal Details
| Service Number: | 3846 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ilfracombe, Queensland, Australia, 17 August 1889 |
| Home Town: | Blackall, Blackall Tambo, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Blackall State School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 5 April 1917, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Blackall War Memorial |
Service History
World War 1 Service
| 31 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3846, 25th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3846, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Brisbane | |
| 2 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 49th Infantry Battalion |
Personal Stories
Help us honour William Philip John Kelly's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
At dawn on the morning of 5 April 1917 at Noreuil a group of men of the 49th Battalion AIF were enfiladed by German machine gun fire. They suffered 53 casualties within a few minutes; Private Kelly was probably one of them.
His younger brother, 5386 Pte. Thomas Kelly 9th Battalion AIF, died of wounds less than 2 months later, 31 May 1917. Both are listed on the Blackall War Memorial, Queensland.