Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Pte 5631 William Henry Kenneth (Keith) Munro

The Somme, more than a hundred years ago, under the dark clouds of a world at war, on these lands of France on which so much blood and tears were shed, fought and fell millions of young boys, a whole generation of men who gave their today and their courage for freedom and for peace, for justice and for their country they gave their youth in the mud of the trenches. Side by side, they served with bravery and determination, with loyalty and perseverance under machine gun fire, it is together, for their country and for France that they paid the supreme sacrifice and gave their lives and it is here today, on these lands of remembrance that they rest in peace, on the soils of a friendly country which will forever remember them and honor them with respect and gratitude through the fields in which poppies grow and which remind us of what so many of these men did for us and what we owe them.it is with love and respect that we will always watch over these men and that we will always maintain their memory and their history with the greatest care to bring them back to life and so that what they were and what they did for us would never be forgotten.

Today, it is the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow and whose life was taken too soon that I would like to honor with gratitude,I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 5631 William Henry Kenneth (Keith) Munro who fought in the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion and who was killed in action 104 years ago on March 26, 1917 at the age of 20 and who is today remembered and honored in the Somme.

William Henry Kenneth Munro was born on February 1897 in Maclean, New South Wales, The nurse at the birth was Mrs G Davis. He was the son of William Kenneth and Adelaide Munro, of Grafton Street, Maclean.William was educated at Maclean Superior Public School, Clarence River, New South Wales and after graduation he served four years in the senior cadets and one year in the militia, 12th Infantry. Before the outbreak of the war, he lived in Maclean Heights and worked as a cordial manufacturer.

Enlisted on March 28, 1916 at Lismore, New South Wales, in the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion, 15th Reinforcement, from 29 April 1916 to 7 June 1916, he served at the 11th Depot Battalion and embarked with the 26th Battalion from Brisbane, on board HMAT A46 Clan Macgillivray on September 7, 1916 and sailed for England where he was disembarked on November 2 at Plymouth and was sent to the 7th Training Battalion at Rollestone on November 21.After intensive one month training, he proceeded to France on December 13, 1916 from Folkestone, on board SS Victoria and was disembarked with his battalion the next day, on December 14 at Etaples and on December 19,he was taken on strength under the 2nd AIF Division, 26th Battalion, C Company.

on March 18, 1917, he was admitted to the hospital as ill.He was discharged to administration duties on March 19 and rejoined his battalion on March 25 at Lagnicourt, near Bullecourt, Pas-De-Calais. Unfortunately, it was the next day,on March 26, 1917, during the battle of Lagnicourt that William met his fate and was killed in action by a machine gun bullet in the head, he was 20 years old.

Unfortunately, it was the next day, March 26, 1917, during the battle of Lagnicourt that William met his fate and was killed in action by a machine gun bullet in the head, he was 20 years old.

A witness of William's death, Private number 5717 Bertie Clarence Lindsay, 26th Australian Infantry Battalion, D company declared:
"I was 3 yards off Munro when he was killed by a machine gun bullet through the head which caused instantaneous death. It happened at "Lagincourt"(Lagnicourt) on the night of Bullecourt on March 26th, the morning we took Bullecourt. He was buried there".

The extract from the Brigade Diary for the battle is shown below:
"The actual advance to the edge of the Village was good we had several casualties in the first wave from machine gun fire but the men were not to be denied and went straight ahead. A Seachlight played on the right Coy advancing across the open, for a moment the men stopped but the Officer at hand cheered them on and one of our Lewis guns firing from the hip put the light out of action, it is now in our possession."

The left and right Coys had no determined opposition and advanced rapidly to their objectives as laid down in the Operation Order, with the exception of the right who were compelled to place Posts well to the right to protect their flanks. Posts were put out.The Centre Coy. ("C") had some very hard fighting, first at the edge of the village (South Side) and later in the village itself. Many hand to hand encounters took place but the Company reinforced by two platoons of "D" Company fought with great dash and brilliancy led by Captain Percy Cherry VC, MC - also KIA 27/3/1917 (https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/146810). 3 of the 4 Officers were casualties before 6 a.m.

Based on this description of the battle, there is a strong possibilty that William was killed in the initial part of the advance probably on the line from the start point (C.29.a) to the entry to the village along the road at (C.23.d) or on advance through the village to the Factory at C.24.b.(map).

Unfortunately, after this terrible battle, William's body was never found and today he is remembered and honored with the greatest respect at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux,Somme, which honor the names of 11,000 Australian soldiers who fell in France and in the Somme and which have no known graves.

William had a cousin who also fought in the first world war, Sergeant number 184 William James Atkins who served in the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion. Unfortunately William was killed in action in Pozieres, Somme, at the age of 21 on July 24, 1916 and his body was never found.He is honored and remembered at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux.

William, you who have, with loyalty and bravery, served with honor for your country and for France and who rest in peace, always standing proudly where you fell, on the fields on which the poppies of Remembrance grow, I would, from the bottom of my heart and with respect, to say thank you for all that you have done for my country which today remembers with love you and your comrades, your brothers in arms who fought and who fell to your side by shedding their blood together in the mud of the trenches and the battlefields upon which a whole generation of men were cut down by the infernal rhythm of the murderous fire of the machine guns which rained down death and destruction through the ranks of men who served for justice and freedom, for the love of their country and their families who for many, never saw again their sons, their husbands, their brothers, their fathers who fought with conviction and determination under clouds of poisoned gas and endless rains of shells and steel, in mud and blood, they fought like lions and showed the courage of a whole generation who fought for humanity in a war that tried to steal theirs in terrible bloodbaths.under the roar and thunder of the cannons, they remained united and strong in the finest spirit of camaraderie and unity fighting and standing proudly, with courage for the men who were next to them, in the same uniform and gathered around the same causes, they did what was right and proudly wore the colors of their country.They lived hell on earth to bring and give new hope to the world and to future generations, they wore, under their shoes and on their shoulders the weight and the sufferings of a war which set the world ablaze in flames and gave their youth, lives which, before the war were full of promise and it is without hesitation that they all answered the call of the duty and followed their hearts which guided them on the battlefields.They walked with confidence and hearts filled with hope, bearing on their faces the smiles that remained engraved in the hearts of the French people. Here, in these lands of France, a country they knew little, they did and gave so much, for us, they fought with energy and the strength of their youth to the end of their strength, to their last breath, together they walked towards their destiny, towards the eternal remembrance of their lives, they lived and fought with honor and loyalty, with love and determination, one step after another, they moved forward together on the battlefield, under the shrapnels and the bullets which rained around them and under which they fell, collapsing in the steel cold barbed wire, they gave their lives with in their hearts, the pride of having done their duty and of having served their country alongside their comrades and their friends.More than a hundred years have passed and we will not forget, we will never forget what so many men did for us, men who, as they were in the trenches, stand proudly on these soils where so much tears and blood was shed.many of them were not found but they are here, their names engraved on the walls of the Australian memorial of Villers-Bretonneux, 11,000 of them that we will never forget and of which we will keep alive their memory and their stories and whom we will always honor with the same love as their brothers in arms who rest in peace under the shadow of their white graves between which poppies and daffodils grow. None of them will ever be forgotten because even if their bodies were not found, they still live with us, in our hearts where we can see them and cherish them with respect and dignity, in our hearts they will never cease to live and I will never cease to watch over them, so that their names, their stories and their faces, their smiles, may live on forever.Thank you William,for everything.Merci.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.