EYERS, William Charles
| Service Number: | 5080 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 58th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bolwarrah, Victoria, Australia, 1896 |
| Home Town: | Bullarto, Hepburn, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Bolwarrah State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 27 March 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Pozières British Cemetery Plot II, Row E, Grave No. 10 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5080, 8th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 5080, 8th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Suffolk embarkation_ship_number: A23 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 5080, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suffolk, Melbourne | |
| 7 Dec 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 58th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
William Charles Eyers stated on his enlistment that he had spent 12 months in a reform school.
A newspaper report from 1906 detailed how he escaped from the reformatory and made it home, under the heading, RUNAWAY BOY.
‘Willie Eyers a son of Mr Charles Eyers of Bolwarrah who was sent to the Royal Park Industrial School on January 17 and boarded out at Box Hill escaped on 16 November. He got through Melbourne and following the Bacchus Marsh and Gordon railway lines reached Ballan some time on Friday night he turned into the bush toward his fathers home where he reached on Saturday morning. The boy is only 10 years old yet he managed to get food and make his way home. he was arrested today by Mounted Constable Anderson of Gordon and taken back to Melbourne by the trooper tonight.’
He was still only 21 when wounded in action on 26 March 1917, suffering a penetrating gunshot wound to the chest, and wounds to the upper and lower extremities. He died of wounds on the operating table the next day at the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station.
His younger brother, 6009 Pte. Arthur Leslie Eyers 38th Battalion was awarded a Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry at Messines before being sent home wounded during early 1918.
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