HARDAKER, William John Francis
| Service Number: | 904 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 September 1914, Casino, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bombala, New South Wales, 22 December 1890 |
| Home Town: | Woodburn, Richmond Valley, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Natural causes, Casino, New South Wales, 27 May 1961, aged 70 years |
| Cemetery: |
Woodburn Cemetery, NSW Row L; Plot 13. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 904, 15th Infantry Battalion, Casino, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 904, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 904, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 26 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 904, 15th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 10 May 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
| 9 Aug 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 904, 15th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, GSW mouth | |
| 1 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Corporal, 904, 15th Infantry Battalion, HT Transylvania, Alexandria - arriving Marseilles, France 8 June 1916 | |
| 8 Aug 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 904, 15th Infantry Battalion, Shell Shock | |
| 15 Jul 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
| 3 Dec 1918: | Embarked AIF WW1, Sergeant, 904, 15th Infantry Battalion, HT Port Hacking, London for return to Australia (1914 Leave) - arriving 27 January 1919 | |
| 29 Mar 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 904, 15th Infantry Battalion |
Family history book
Sergeant William John Francis Hardaker (904) enlisted on 17th September, 1914, at Lismore, and embarked for active service on 22nd December
1914. He went to Egypt, where he contracted influenza, which kept him from taking part in the first landing at Gallipoli, but he went with the reinforcements a fortnight later.
On 10th May, 1915, he was promoted to Corporal, and was wounded on 28th August 1915, the bullet entering under his left eye and passing out of his mouth.
He was buried alive three times on the
Somme Front, the third time being wounded. On returning to duty, he was promoted to Sergeant, and is still in action.
He is the son of Henry James and the late Emily Hardaker, of South Woodburn, Richmond River, and is 28 years of age.
He was born at fombala, South coast (NSW) and received his education at Pambula. NSW.
Submitted 11 June 2023 by Beau Davis
Biography contributed by Michael Silver
William John Fancis Hardaker was the youngest of five children to Henry James Hardaker and his wife Emily Ann Johnson. Born at Bombala on the NSW south coast, he was named after his grandfather. Sadly he never knew his mother, she died just three days after he was born on Christmas Day 1890.
With five young children to care for, Henry Hardaker married Elizabeth Scott at Bombala in 1894 - they were to have a further seven children. The growing family moved to the Richmond River district on the NSW north coast in the early 1900s where Henry Hardaker managed the Exeter Estate grazing property at South Woodburn.
It was from here that William Hardaker was one of the first to enlist on 18 September 1914 at Casino. After basic training with the 15th Battalion AIF, he embarked in HMAT A40 'Ceramic' on 22 December 1914 from Port Melbourne for the Middle East.
Over coming illness on the transport and after further training in Egypt, he landed at Gallipoli with his 15th Battalion comrades at 9.00am on 26 April, 1915. Promoted to Corporal, he suffered a bullet wound to the jaw, near Abdul Rahman Bair, on August 9 and was evacuated to hospital.
Recovering from his wound, William was transferred to the Western Front in mid 1916. He suffered 'shell shock' soon after his arrival and was out of the line until the beginning of October 1916. In 1917 he was promoted to Sergeant, before suffering from a pyrexia (fever) of unknown origin. He spent several months in hospital before being placed on a supernumary list.
In late 1918 he was granted '1914 Special Leave' and returned to Australia, arriving in late January 1919. Later that year he married Eulalie Sarah McLaren at Casino.
The couple farmed property at South Woodburn and had a son, Francis Ira Hardaker in 1920, followed by two daughters. Tragically, 420941 Sergeant Francis Ira Hardaker (RAAF) was killed when his Wellington bomber crashed in Oxfordshire, England in 1943 when on a training flight.
During the 1940s, William and his wife moved to Sydney and lived at Maroubra.
Sergeant William John Francis Hardaker, late 15th Battalion AIF, died in May 1961. His wife, Eulalie passed away a few months later. They were both interred at the Woodburn Cemetery.
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