Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Completed by Mussared's great granddaughter who attends Yankalilla Area School

William Knight Mussared, born to Stanley Parker Mussared and Elizabeth Hanna Mussared (nee. Gorvett) on the 28th of July, 1911, was one of five children, though he was the only boy. In order of the eldest, there was Gwendoline Mussared, born 1902, Marjorie G Mussared, born 1904, who passed away 2 years later in 1906, Marjorie L G Mussared, born 1909, William, often called Bill, and Ruth Davies Mussared, born 1915. He was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, but less than 5 years later, moved to South Australia, where his younger sister was born.

At 26, in 1937, William got married to Julie Emily Woods in Mitcham, South Australia at St Michael's Anglican Church, as William was a protestant and followed the Church of England. The reception was held at William’s parents’ home. Julie wore a beautiful satin dress with cobweb lace on the top. Her bridesmaid was Ruth, William’s sister, and the best man was Fergus McDougall (TROVE, n.d.).

On the 10th of October, 1938, William’s first son, Graham William Mussared was born. 

Pre 1939, William was a bank officer. He lived at 31 Kandahar Crescent, Colonel Light Gardens, South Australia at the time of his enlistment, though it’s undetermined how long he lived there for. 

In May 1940, being between the age of 20 and 40, William was conscripted. He joined the 2/27th Battalion and completed training for 6 months in Australia before being deployed in the Middle East in November. Around the same time, Julie gave birth to their second child, Gillian. And on his Attestant form, his next of kin was Julie.

At the end of the fundamental training, the unit got moved by train to Melbourne so they could be transported by the Mauretania overseas. They briefly made camp at Deolali, India, outside of Bombay before boarding the Takliwa for the rest of the journey to the Middle East. Once they arrived, they trekked to Palestine to further their training.

In April 1941, William and the 2/27th Battalion were deployed to the Egypt–Libya border. William often sent photos and letters to Julie, ranging from talking about his camel to photos of the Pyramids of Giza. They soon became involved in the Siege of Tobruk, which lasted from April to November 1941. It was a crucial part of the North African campaign during World War II. Tobruk was a strategic port, and its defence was vital to the Allied efforts against the Axis forces led by General Erwin Rommel. (2/27th Battalion, n.d)

William, along with other members of the 2/27th Battalion, became part of the group of soldiers who would later be known as the "Rats of Tobruk." This nickname was initially given by Axis propaganda in an attempt to belittle the defenders, but it was proudly embraced by the Australian soldiers, who took great pride in their resilience and tenacity under siege conditions.

Life in Tobruk was characterised by harsh desert conditions, with extreme heat, limited water, and constant threats from artillery bombardments and air raids. The defenders lived in dugouts and trenches, often under constant fire, and had to deal with shortages of supplies. Despite these challenges, the defenders of Tobruk successfully held the port against repeated Axis assaults, preventing Rommel's forces from advancing further into Egypt (2/27th Battalion (Australia), 2024).

After the Siege of Tobruk was over, the 2/27th Battalion were sent on the Ile de France via the Bombay once again to reinforce the Australian and Dutch militia in Java, but got re-routed. In mid-March, they landed in Port Adelaide where they stayed for a brief period before setting off to New Guinea (2/27th Battalion (Australia), 2024).

In mid-August 1942, the 2/27th were deployed in New Guinea to fight against the Japanese.

The Australian troops relied heavily on accurate maps to navigate the challenging terrain and plan their operations against the Japanese. William, one of the brave soldiers, helped map the Kokoda Track, demonstrating his versatility and resourcefulness as a soldier (C. Mussared, 24/8/24, Granddaughter).

Later in the campaign, multiple groups got cut off by the advancing Japanese soldiers, including William’s Battalion, leaving them stranded and isolated in the harsh jungle for 2 weeks. Disease-ridden, starving, and cold, William suffered heavy and almost deadly casualties but managed to survive. From an oral recount, he single handedly stayed back while his infantry retreated to hold the Japanese soldiers off, and did so for long enough that he had enough time to recover to catch up to his crew (C. Mussared, 24/8/24, Granddaughter).

In 1943, after enduring the injuries sustained during the New Guinea campaign, William Knight Mussared was discharged from the 2/27th Battalion. Upon his return to Australia, was reunited with his family. His children, Graham and Gillian, were no longer infants; they had grown to the ages of 5 and 3, respectively.

Following the war, William sent a letter applying for the medals due to him. As shown in Figure 10, he wrote: “Dear Sir, I wish to apply for medals which are due to me as a member of the 2nd AIF.”

The medals he received were: Egypt (1940-1941), Palestine (1940-1942), and New Guinea, (1942-1943). (See figure) He ended up being awarded 8 medals; The 1939-45 Star, The Africa Star, The Pacific Star, The Defence Medal, The War Medal, the Efficiency Medal, and the Front Line Service Medal. 

William was a heavy smoker after coming back from the war, which was normalised back then, so he didn’t realise the effects that would impact him later in life.

Keeping up the generational tradition, William became a Freemason, just like his father, and his father’s father, and so on (TROVE, n.d.). He was also active with his local Rotary Club in Henley Beach, and was also president of the club at some point (C. Mussared, 13/8/24, Granddaughter).

Because of his severe and debilitating injuries, William tried for years to get the Government to pay for a war pension to help support his medical expenses, though the Government kept rejecting his applications. (C. Mussared, 16/8/24, Granddaughter)

A few years later, in 1950, his father Stanley Mussared passed away, and fourteen years later, his mum, Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ passed.

In 1967, William’s first granddaughter, Jaquelline ‘Jacqui’ Mussared is born to Graham and his wife, Shirley Mussared (nee. Reynolds). And a short two years later, his second granddaughter was born, Catherine ‘Cate’ Mussared, born to Graham and Shirley as well.

In 1970, William experienced a significant loss with the passing of his wife after 32 years of marriage. Following this, he remarried Marjorie Joseph Bowen on April 17, 1971. Later that year, on August 2, 1971, William welcomed his third granddaughter, Rebecca ‘Bec’ Mussared.

The family continued to grow, with the birth of his fourth granddaughter, Lucy, on December 3, 1984. William also became a grandfather to his first and only grandson, Michael, during this period, who were born to Graham and his new wife, Rosemary Willoughby. (See figures 12, 13, and 14)

On the 12th of April, 1990, William Knight Mussared passed away with causes related to smoking at the age of 78.

Growing up, all of his grandchildren called him Papa, and even after his death, when mentioned, his great-grandchildren also called him Papa. William notably rarely talked about his part in the war to his children and grandchildren and was known for being firm with their attitudes (R. Mussared, 29/8/24, Granddaughter).

Reference List

(2024) 2/27th Battallion (Australia) Available at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2/27th_Battalion_(Australia) (Accessed: 25/8/2024)

(n.d.) 2/27th Battalion. Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/11 (Accessed: 26/8/2024)

(n.d.) 2/27th Australian Infantry Battalion. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U56070 (Accessed: 27/8/2024)

(2019) The Lost Battalion. Available at: https://www.thelostbattalion.net/2-27th-battalion (Accessed: 27/8/2024)

TROVE (n.d.) William Mussared. Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131895220?searchTerm=%22William%20Mussared%22 (Accessed: 28/8/2024)

(n.d.) Record Search. Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=6656087&isAv=N (Accessed: 28/8/2024)

TROVE (n.d.) Freemason. Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/53655809 (Accessed: 4/9/2024)