MCCONNELL, William James
| Service Number: | 4184 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 57th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Barham, 1898 |
| Home Town: | Barham, Wakool, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Barham State School |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Lagnicourt, France, 2 April 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 4184, 21st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 4184, 21st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Melbourne | |
| 2 Apr 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 4184, 57th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4184 awm_unit: 57 Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-04-02 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Father
McCONNELL, Pte. William James Norwood, 4181. 57th Bn. Australian Inf. Died of wounds 22nd July, 1916. Age 49. Son of William and Jane McConnell, of Brighton, Victoria, Australia, husband of Eliza Anne McConnell, of 2 Chevasse Street, Brighton, Victoria. Calais Southern Cemetery Plot E. Row 2. Grave 15.
4184 Private William James McConnell, enlisted barely 2 days after celebrating his 18th birthday. His father gave a signed letter of consent for him to do so. They both transferred to the 57th Battalion on the same day in Egypt, 20th April, 1916.
They were both in the Battalion when it was committed to battle at Fromelles on July 19, 1916, and during the terrible mauling the 57th Battalion suffered from German machine guns in front of Fromelles, both father and son were wounded.
William senior died of his wounds on the 22nd July in the course of being evacuated, near Calais.
William juniorwas very badly wounded, with shrapnel wounds to the jaw, wrist and abdomen, but he recovered to rejoin the battalion in August 1916. He was made a Lance Corporal on the 20th September 1916 before he was killed in action on the 2nd April 1917.
The almost identical names and successive regimental numbers unsurprisingly seemed to cause some confusion in the settling of their affairs with relatives.
Stephen Brooks Dec 2019