S7447
DOWN, William James
| Service Number: | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 1870 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Iron Moulder |
| Died: | 9 January 1937, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
West Terrace Cemetery (AIF Section) Section: LO, Road: 2S, Site No: 38 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide South Australian Railways WW1 & WW2 Honour Boards |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 2020, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Miltiades embarkation_ship_number: A28 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 2020, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Miltiades, Adelaide |
Help us honour William James Down's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
William James Down was born in 1872 in Adelaide, South Australia. His parents were called William Down and Mary Jane Carpenter. He grew up with 4 sisters in Adelaide .
He worked as an Iron Moulder before the war. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall, his weight was 145 pounds, he had brown eyes, and dark hair. In 1896 he married Catherine Mary Down, and they lived together at George Street, off Hindley Street, Adelaide. They had 0 children listing his wife as his next of kin. As per his later Attestation Papers, he stated his religious denomination as Presbyterian. He had previously applied to the military but was rejected for medical reasons. On this occasion he was successful.
He was 43 at the time of enlistment, on 25 October 1915. In June the enlistment age was raised from 38 to 45 years of age.
On 7 February 1916, he departed from South Australia on board the HMAT Miltiades, later arricing in Suez, Egypt on 11 March 1916. Quickly after he was placed into the 32nd Battalion. He was admitted to the hospital on 10 May 1916 with rheumatism. He was in the hospital for a week and was discharged and returned to his unit on the 18th May. Bu after two weeks on 29 May 1916, he became sick again and was admitted to hospital suffering from chronic lumbago which is considered as a terrible back pain and cardiac weakness, made worse by the climate of Egypt. He got moved many times between hospitals including the New Zealand Stationary Hospital at Moascar and later the 3rd Australian General Hospital at Abbassia to treat him better, but his health was not improving at all and the doctors decided to send him to England for further treatment. On 24 June 1916 he embarked on a hospital ship.
Once in England, he was treated at the 3rd London General Hospital in Wandsworth after many test his condition was described as a disability meaning overall weakness and poor health which was getting worse. He was then transferred to smaller hospitals and convalescent depots, such as Huskards in Essex and the 2nd Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Southall, but he never fully recovered. Shortly after he was announced medically unfit and could not provide any service for his country, Announced on 17 October 1916, he boarded the HT Ajana to return to Australia. He arrived back in Adelaide on 5 December 1916 and was officially discharged from the army on 29 January 1917.
William died in 1937 and was buried in the AIF section of the West Terrace Cemetery.
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