WELCH, William John
| Service Number: | 1192 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Thebarton, South Australia, 1894 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Public school, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Steward |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 7 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 1192, 10th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 1192, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Themistocles, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
William John Welch was a soldier in the 10th Battalion during WWI. William was ranked as a Private and was in the 1st Reinforcement. He was born in Thebarton, South Australia in 1894 sometime in July. Before the war, he was a steward. Welch was single when he joined the war, and he had no children. He was also a natural-born British subject.
Welch was enlisted on the 10th of September 1914 at the age of 20 and 2 months in Adelaide. His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT Themistocles on the 7th of December 1914. His ship carried people from the 10th Battalion to training in Egypt.
He was sent to serve his country and protect his territories, so others did not take control of them. In 1915, the 10th Battalion finished their training in Egypt and travelled to the Greek island of Lemnos.
Before his first battle, he embarked to join MEF (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli) on the 2nd of March 1915. The MEF was part of the British Army during World War I that commanded all forces at Gallipoli. The MEF was used to refer to the forces at Gallipoli. A
Welch was wounded in action, 29 of April 1915 in his right foot and thigh. He disembarked Southampton on the 12th of May 1915 and was admitted to Craylingwell War Hospital, Chichester where he remained until 20th June 1915 before rejoining his unit.
Welch was hospitalised several times for VD between 1915 and 1917 and was fined, called 'hospital stoppages', to cover the cost of his treatment. He had his pay cut 3 times for a total of 45 days.
On the 27th of March 1916, he proceeded to join the BEF (British Expeditionary Force, Alexandria). Shortly after this, he disembarked at Marseilles on the 3rd of April 1916 to go and fight in the battle of Pozieres. Throughout this battle, William experienced no injuries or health issues. The battle of Pozieres was a very, very deadly battle with many deaths and many casualties. For Welch to come out of this battle alive is very impressive. He would have shown great courage and determination throughout the whole battle, and thankfully the Australians managed to capture the village of Pozieres.
The last battle Welch fought in was the Third Battle of Ypres. This battle was worse than Pozieres with 250,000 casualties and over 38,000 deaths or people who were wounded. The courage needed to go to this battle and fight for your country was way beyond the courage needed for any other battle. We can assume everyone involved in this battle including Welch sacrificed everything to protect their country.
Unfortunately, he was killed in action on the 31st October 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres in Belgium and he has no known grave.
Bibliography:
- Adfa.edu.au. (2016). Search. [online] Available at: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/search.
- Anon, (n.d.). 10th Battalion | Organisations | A World Away | South Australia’s War. [online] Available at: https://southaustraliaswar.history.sa.gov.au/organisations/10th-battalion/.
- Awm.gov.au. (2016). Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/AWM4/.
- Naa.gov.au. (2015). Session expired | RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia. [online] Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx.
- www.awm.gov.au. (n.d.). Advanced Search | Australian War Memorial. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/people/roll-search.
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