MICHIE, William
| Service Number: | 7795 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 February 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | Tunnelling Companies |
| Born: | Mackay, Queensland, Australia, 4 June 1885 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 10 April 1918, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gayndah War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Feb 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 7795, Tunnelling Companies | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Nov 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Sapper, 7795, Tunnelling Companies, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' | |
| 10 Apr 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 7795, Tunnelling Companies, German Spring Offensive 1918, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 7795 awm_unit: Tunnelling Company awm_rank: Sapper awm_died_date: 1918-04-10 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Sapper William Michie (Service No:7795) enlisted in the AIF on 20 January 1916 as a Private attached to 11th Depot Battalion, and was attached to Tunnelling Coys on 21 November 1917 when he embarked from Melbourne for Suez on board HMAT A71 Nestor - en route for Southampton. Transferred to Australian Corps Depot in France on 25 March 1918, Sapper Michie was Reported Missing at Ploegsteert Village on 10 April 1918. Sapper HG Shave reported (16 August 1918) 'On 10th April in the night we hopped over at Ploegsteert. We went about 1000 yards and then retired. Michie went over with us but he did not return all the way but remained in a shell hole. I heard one of our men ask him if he was coming back, but he said 'No! He would stop there till dark'. He did not come back. Fritz followed us as we retired and we could see him putting in up his wire about 50 yards from where Michie was'.
William was born at Port Mackay, QLD in 1885, third of five children of William Michie Snr (b1855 in Aberdeen, Scotland) and Jane Ann Porter (b1862 in Aberdeen, Scotland). William Snr (a Quarry Worker) and Jane married in 1881 in Aberdeen, and immigrated in 1883, arriving in Brisbane on board the Rohilla. William Snr and Jane lived in Rockhampton, Mackay and Brisbane, where they raised their family and William Snr was a Labourer. Following William Snrs death in 1890, Jane remarried and settled in Gayndah, where she was a Nurse.
William was a Labourer and Miner (Underground Worker) in Mt Morgan and at Wetherton on the Gayndah Line. In 1916 in Brisbane he married Violet May Cherry (b1892 in Warwick, QLD). Following William's death in France in 1918, Violet remarried.
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