CAMPBELL, William Clarence
| Service Numbers: | 130, R130 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 January 1915, Deniliquin, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 22nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Clunes, Victoria, Australia, 1892 |
| Home Town: | Clunes, Hepburn, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Clunes State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 3 May 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Clunes War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 130, 22nd Infantry Battalion, Deniliquin, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 130, 22nd Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, A38 Ulysses. RTA 22 November 1915 with illness. Declared fit again on 20 June 1916. | |
| 28 Jul 1916: | Involvement R130, 22nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
| 28 Jul 1916: | Embarked R130, 22nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Themistocles, Melbourne | |
| 3 May 1917: | Involvement Private, 130, 22nd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 130 awm_unit: 22 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-05-03 | |
| 3 May 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 130, 22nd Infantry Battalion, Bullecourt (Second) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
William Clarence Campbell enlisted in the AIF at Deniliquin on 27 January 1915, aged 22.
He embarked overseas on 10 May 1915 and arrived in Egypt about five weeks later, where he later contracted diphtheria and was hospitalised from 29 August 1915.
He subsequently suffered from post-diphtheritic paralysis and departed for Australia for treatment and recuperation on 5 October 1915. He arrived back in Melbourne on 22 November 1915 and did not regain full fitness until 20 June 1916.
He embarked overseas for the second time on 28 July 1916 and arrived in Plymouth on 11 September 1916.
After two months further training, he left England and arrived in France on 17 November 1916, where he was taken on strength of the 22nd Battalion on 4 December 1916 and spent the bitter northern winter of 1916-17 in and out of the Somme front line.
In mid-February 1917, the Germans strategically withdrew a large section of their front line to the new Hindenburg Line and the allies followed close behind to engage and harass them.
In the last of these engagements, later known as Second Bullecourt, Pte William Clarence Campbell was killed in action on 3 May 1917. His remains were never found, and he has no known grave.
He is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux.
Source: Extract from "Clunes War Memorial WW1" by Robert Wight, June 2022.