S11720
FEUS, William Harry
| Service Numbers: | 682, 2264 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 January 1916, Enlisted at Adelaide, SA |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 4 Battalion Imperial Camel Corps |
| Born: | Largs Bay, South Australia, 1891 |
| Home Town: | Largs Bay, Port Adelaide Enfield, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Semaphore, South Australia, 28 June 1927, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Dudley Park Cemetery, South Australia Interred on the 29 June 1927. Section SE, Path 5, Grave 0154 |
| Memorials: | Fremantle D & J Fowler Ltd. Staff, Largs Bay St Alban's Church Roll of Honor, Somerton Park Sacred Heart College Men of "The Marist Brothers Old Scholars Association" Honor Roll WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 682, 9th Light Horse Regiment, Enlisted at Adelaide, SA | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 2264, 9th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Bakara embarkation_ship_number: A41 public_note: '' | |
| 28 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 2264, 9th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Bakara, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 3 Battalion Imperial Camel Corps, From 9th Light Horse Regiment | |
| 16 Mar 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 4 Battalion Imperial Camel Corps, From 3rd Imperial Camel Corps | |
| 20 Aug 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, 3 Battalion Imperial Camel Corps, From 4th Imperial Camel Corp | |
| 24 Nov 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 3 Battalion Imperial Camel Corps | |
| 30 Mar 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sergeant, 682, 3 Battalion Imperial Camel Corps, Gunshot wound to the right forearm. Invalided to Australia | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Sergeant, 2264, 9th Light Horse Regiment | |
| 16 Mar 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 682, 4 Battalion Imperial Camel Corps, Discharged at the 4th Military District as medically unfit due to wounding |
Help us honour William Harry Feus's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of Edith May Ewing formerly Feus of Ralson Street, Largs Bay, SA, previously Mt Gambier, SA
Commenced return to Australia on 12 July 1918 aboard HT Port Darwin disembarking on the 20 August 1918
Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by St Ignatius' College
William Harry Feus was born in 1891 at Largs Bay South Australia William was 5 feet and 7¾ inches, weighed 143lbs (64.86kg), had brown hair and eyes, a medium complexion, and followed the religion of the Church of England. Before enlisting, Feus worked as a Clerk. He was unmarried and had no children.
He enlisted on January the 11th, 1916. He embarked towards Egypt in April of 1916. On November 11th of 1916, Private Feus was transferred to the third battalion of the Imperial Camel Corps (I.C.C).
Private Feus fought with the Imperial Camel Corps in Romani, Magdhaba and Rafa alongside his old unit in the Australian Light Horse Regiment. In 1917, during the advancement through Palestine he was transferred from the 3rd Battalion of the Imperial Camel Corps to the 4th. After his unit and many others in the Imperial Camel Corps suffered heavy losses in the Second battle of Gaza in April of 1917, he was transferred back to the 3rd Battalion in August of the same year. 3 months later in November, amidst the operations conducted by the Imperial Camel Corps to destroy the Turkish defensive line between Gaza and Beersheba, Private Feus, on the 24th, was promoted to a Corporal of his battalion. On the 16th of February 1918, Corporal Feus was proclaimed as a Sergeant of the 4th Battalion.
Unfortunately, on the 30th of March 1918, not long before the Imperial Camel Corps was mostly disbanded as the fighting moved into lands more appropriate for horses, Sergeant Feus attained a gunshot wound to his right forearm and was declared invalid to Australia as a fighting soldier. His wound was treated by the Light Horse Field Ambulance, and he was shuffled around to multiple station hospitals and casualty clearing stations. Sergeant Feus returned to the 4th Battalion, but he didn’t fight. Instead, he was assigned the role of an Orderly Clerk. On the 7th of April he was brought to the 14th Australian General Hospital in Abbassia, Cairo and finally embarked back for Port Darwin in Australia on the 11th of July 1918 after a total service of 3 years and 65 days.
After arriving back in Australia on the 20th of August 1918, William Harry Feus returned to live with his mother, Mrs Edith May Ewing, at their home near Largs Bay South Australia. He continued his job as a Clerk at D. & J. Fowler Ltd, where he had been working since 1908, and oversaw the coal office. He never married and died on June the 28th, a Tuesday morning. He died at the age of 36 at Wolverton Hospital after collapsing on the previous Monday evening for an unknown reason. He is buried at Dudley Park Cemetery in South Australia, and his grave reads; ‘Someday, we will understand.'