GRIMSHAW, William Thomas
| Service Number: | WX15137 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 July 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Geraldton, Western Australia, 25 February 1923 |
| Home Town: | East Fremantle, East Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Egypt, 31 October 1942, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
El Alamein War Cemetery, Marsa Matruh, Egypt A I. D. 14. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, WX15137 | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Jul 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX15137, 2nd/32nd Infantry Battalion | |
| 21 Jul 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX15137, Overstated Age to enlist. He was born in Geraldton in 1923 not 1920 as stated. WA Birth Registration attached. | |
| 7 Nov 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX15137, Departed from Fremantle in U.S. 13 HMAT convoy bound for M.E. | |
| 24 Nov 1941: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX15137, Middle East / Mediterranean Theatre | |
| 31 Oct 1942: | Wounded Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX15137, 2nd/32nd Infantry Battalion, El Alamein, D.O.W. (G.S.W. Abdomen) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Maurice Kissane
William Thomas Grimshaw was born in Geraldton in Western Australia. The year was 1923. He was the son of John Henry Grimshaw and Jessie Grimshaw (nee Tait).
John Henry Grimshaw too was born in Geraldton. The year was 1876. John's father, Henry Grimshaw was an English convict who was sentenced to be transported to Western Australia in 1865. For W.A. did not end British Convict Transporation until 1868.
Hence William is the Grandson of an English convict who was transported to Western Australia for penal servitude.
Families, these days do not hide their convict ancestors. William's family would have seen it as an assisted passage. For the convict transportation system was seen as being base upon unjust laws to remove undesirables from the mother country.
Jessie Grimshaw was William's mother. She was John Henry Grimshaws second wife. Jessie was born in the Scottish Shetland Islands in 1895 but migrated to W.A. in 1912.
William's parents married in the remote Goldfields township of Cue in 1916. The couple had five children including William. However, the family relocated to Fremantle during the Great Depression.
John Henry Grimshaw, William's father eventaully got a job on the Fremantle wharf as a "lumper". He had to lump cargo on and off cargo ships. John suffered a workplace injuy in 1930 when a cargo sling broke.
He eventally died in 1934. Jessie Grimshaw was now a widow with five children, including William to care for.
William would have been 14 years old when he left home and went bush to work in the mines. He would have contributed his widowed mother Jessie's meager income.
His mother wrote numerous letters to local newpapers about social issues and poor governance. Her letters and comentary were published in local newspapers for more than fifty years until her death in 1971. Jessie Grimshaw likely had a fan club as she was so prolific.
Her local Fremantle MP, was the Hon John Curtin MP. Hence he would have been on the receiving end of many of her letters. Particularly when he became her very own war time Prime Minister.
William Thomas Grimshaw was underage for overseas service when he enlisted in mid 1941. He resolved this problem by overstating his age. Bill as he would have been known was mortally wounded during the epic Battle of El Alamein. He rests in the El Alamein War Cemetery.
Lest We Forget.
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