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Australia

Bill was born on 13 Feb 1909 at Waukaringa (district of Burra, SA) to Charles Harris and Olive Harris (nee Thomas).  There were 6 children in the family 3 boys and 3 girls.  His father was a blacksmith at Waukaringa (Curnamond Station), before moving to the Hawker area in 1913, the family relocating with him.

Bill went to school at Hawker, leaving at grade 7 and took employ with his father as an apprentice blacksmith; he remained in this employ for several years before working as a “ganger” on the railway and then, on reaching seniority, as a barman/labourer at the Craddock hotel and later at the Caltowie hotel. In 1934 he moved to Kimba and was employed at the Kimba Hotel as a barman.

It was here that he met Betsy Joyce Sampson. They were married at Port Augusta on 10 Dec 1934 at the manse of the officiating minister. Their first child was born at Kimba, but in late 1935, Bill returned to Caltowie where he resumed employ as a labourer/barman at the Caltowie Hotel, whilst his family remained in Kimba.

Bill enlisted in the Army at Caltowie on 10 Jul 1940 at the age of 31 and was sent to Wayville for processing, commencing his training at 1st Training Battalion on the same date. At the completion of training he was allocated to 2/48th Battalion (Bn), marching into that unit at Woodside (SA) on 16 Oct 1940. He was immediately sent on pre-embarkation leave.

The 2/48th Bn was Australia's most highly decorated unit of WW2. It was raised at the Wayville Showgrounds in Adelaide in Aug 1940 and comprised of mainly SA recruits: its initial training was undertaken at Woodside before embarking for the Middle East on 7 Nov 1940 aboard the HMAT “Sratheden”. Bill sailed with his unit, sailing via Fremantle and Colombo before disembarking at Suez on 17 Dec 1940. He and his unit then moved to Cyrenaica (Libya) in early 1941 for further training.

The 2/48th entered Tobruk's defences on 9 Apr 1941, helping to hold the position for the next 8 months. On 14 Apr 1941, the Bn helped defeat the Axis assault on Tobruk, while manning part of the Red Line with its parent Brigade (26th). The Red Line was the outer line of Tobruk's defences and consisted of a series of concrete pillboxes forming a semicircle around the town. On 15 and 16 Apr 1941 patrols from the 2/48th captured nearly 800 prisoners - virtually the entire 1st Bn of the Italian 62nd Trento Regiment. The Bn withdrew from Tobruk in Oct 1941 and was sent to Palestine and Syria for garrison duties.

 By Jul 1942 the Axis forces had reached El Alamein (Egypt), about seventy miles from Alexandria. The 2/48th was ordered to that area to halt the advance; as part of the 9th Division, it was to advance along the coast and capture Tel el Eise and thus create a wedge between the Germans and the sea. Attacking just before dawn on 10 Jul 1942, the 2/48th captured Tel el Eise along with approximately 400 prisoners.

The main offensive at El Alamein occurred in Oct 1942 and it was during the last stages of this attack that Bill was wounded in action (WIA) on 30 Oct 1942 with gunshot wounds to his chest and buttocks. He was taken to 13th Casualty Clearing Station before being evacuated to 7th Army General Hospital; then to the 6th Army General Hospital for surgery. His wounds were classified as severe. He was eventually released from hospital and returned to his unit on 8 Jan 1943, but he was medically downgraded.

As a result of his wounds, he embarked at Suez on 1 Feb 1943 for return to Australia, disembarking at Melbourne and then travelling to Adelaide where he was then given furlough to recuperate.  On 25 Jun 1943 he was transferred to Australian Defence Canteen Service (ADCS), downgraded to Medical Class B and posted to Atherton (Qld).

He was obviously effective in this position as he was promoted to Acting Corporal on 12 Aug 1944 and confirmed in this rank on 1 Dec 1944. However, his wounds continued to trouble him and he was again medically downgraded on 27 Sep 1945 and transferred to 4th Military District (SA) on 1 Oct 1945 for medical discharge. He was discharged the next day as medically unfit.

Bill then returned to Caltowie. The family had been split for 13 years and he had not seen his wife or child during that period. The family re-joined when Bill returned to Kimba in 1948 and again took employ at the Kimba Hotel.

In the early 1950s the family decided to purchase a farm in the Kimba area. They moved onto this farm and a second child, a boy (Thomas), was born. They raised the family on the farm.

Bill remained at Kimba until his death on 11 Jan 1990 at 80 years. He is buried in the Kimba Cemetery. His wife died on 20 Mar 2014, aged 99, and is also buried at Kimba.