Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Allan and Charlotte Campbell Ross of Scotland. Brother of Anne Ross of 2 Innes Street, Inverness, Scotland

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Apprenticed to A. Mitchell of Nairn, Scotland for over 3 years

Member of the Stanley River Rifle Club, Woodford, QLD

 # 778 Ross William                            15th Battalion
 
William Ross was born at Nairn near Inverness in Scotland around 1874. He attended school in Nairn and was then apprenticed to a blacksmith for three and a half years. Like many young men from the highlands, William enlisted in a Scottish Regiment for better pay. He served during the second Boer War in South Africa. Once discharged, he continued to work in South Africa as a shoeing smith for the South African Constabulary for three years after which he emigrated to Queensland at the age of 30 and returned to blacksmithing at Woodford. William was a well-recognised member of the Woodford community and was a prominent member of the Stanley River Rifle Club. The Australian Government encouraged the establishment of rifle clubs in rural areas where it was not feasible to establish part time Military units due to a small population. As a Boer War veteran, William probably offered instruction to younger members of the club.
 
At the outbreak of war, William took the train to Caboolture and then on to Brisbane to enlist in the AIF. The first battalion to be raised in Queensland, the 9th Battalion, was already at full quota by the time that William marched in to the Exhibition Grounds at Bowen Hills. He was instead taken on by the 2nd Queensland battalion to be raised, the 15th Battalion. William stated his age as 39 years and six months and occupation as blacksmith of Woodford. His parents were deceased so he named his sister Anne of Inverness as his next of kin.
 
William reported to the Enoggera Camp where he was drafted into “E” Company of the 15th Infantry Battalion on 19th October 1914. The 15th Battalion was composed of eight companies; six coming from Queensland and two from Tasmania. The Queenslanders were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James Cannan, a well-known Brisbane businessman and officer of the volunteer defence force. Training was provided by civilian rifle club members at Enoggera and once sufficient recruits had been processed, the battalion embarked on a number of route marches to Sandgate with an overnight bivouac. Cannan was a hard task master and a number of recruits were discharged for being drunk or AWL.
 
In early December, the battalion travelled by train over several days to Broadmeadows near Melbourne where the Tasmanian companies joined the battalion. The complete 15th then joined the other three battalions to form the 4th Brigade of the AIF commanded by Colonel John Monash, who like Cannan was a prominent businessman as well as part time officer in the Citizens Forces. The 15th boarded the “Ceramic” in Port Melbourne on 22nd December 1914 and sailed for Egypt, arriving in Alexandria on 3rd February 1915.
 
The first contingent of the AIF, comprising three brigades, had been in Egypt since December 1914, and had been training as a division. It was decided that the 4th Brigade, upon arrival in Egypt, would join with the New Zealand contingent to create the New Zealand and Australian Division. The 15th marched into the Aerodrome Camp at Heliopolis, a suburb of Cairo and began intensive training for the next two months.
 
On 14th April 1915, the 15th boarded two troop ships, the “Australind” and the “Seang Bee” at the port city of Alexandria for the voyage to the Greek island of Lemnos. The invasion force of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was being assembled at Mudros Harbour on Lemnos in preparation for the assault on the Gallipoli Peninsula. There was insufficient room for all of the Australian and New Zealand force to be billeted on shore and so the late arrivals, such as the 15th Battalion, remained on board the transports while practicing boat and landing drills.
 
At dawn on the 25th April, the 15th Battalion set sail for the beaches of Gallipoli. Those on board the “Australind” stood off the beach at Cape Helles and observed the British landings there before sailing north to Gaba Tepe where the “Seang Bee” was waiting. The entire battalion was disembarked at Anzac Cove during the night of the 25th/26th April and bivouacked in a gully until dawn when the troops moved up the gully to relieve the exhausted men who had been holding the precarious position at Pope’s Hill since the previous morning. At some time during the actions of the 26th April, William Ross was reported to have been killed in action. The situation at that time was very confused and no records or details were recorded regarding William’s death. No body was recovered.
 
The secretary of the Stanly River Rifle Club wrote to the authorities once William’s name appeared in the casualty lists to state that another club member writing from hospital in Egypt had seen William and he was “quite well.” Such occurrences, which amount to little more than wishful thinking, were not uncommon during the early battles when people in Australia could not possibly comprehend that in the midst of battle, a person could simply vanish.
 
William is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing, Lone Pine, Anzac; the war memorial in his home town of Nairn and the Honour Roll of Woodford Qld. A tree and plaque were planted in his memory in the Avenue of Honour, Woodford.