MCGREE, William Francis
| Service Number: | 3110 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 39th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Turner's Marsh, Tasmania, Australia, 24 December 1893 |
| Home Town: | Karoola, Launceston, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Ararat, Victoria, Australia, 1957, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Feb 1917: | Involvement Private, 3110, 39th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ballarat embarkation_ship_number: A70 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Feb 1917: | Embarked Private, 3110, 39th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ballarat, Melbourne | |
| 14 Jun 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 3110, 39th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Jan Welsh
Willie Francis McGree was born on 24 December 1893, second son of Michael McGree and Mary née Welsh, a farming family in Karoola, NE Tasmania.
He enlisted in the AIF in Dandenong, Victoria, on 20 January 1917. On 19 February as Private No. 3110, he embarked from Melbourne for England on the troopship SS Ballarat. The ship was torpedoed in the English Channel on 25 April and sunk the following morning. Reportedly no lives were lost of the 1752 servicemen and crew onboard.
After training in England, Willie joined 40th Battalion reinforcements in France, in September 1917. He sustained a severe gunshot wound to his left ankle on 5 October. Following treatment in England he was ruled unfit for return to duty and embarked for Australia in February 1918.
Willie was discharged from the AIF on 14 June 1918; he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He was granted a Soldier Settlement block of 84 acres at Koo Wee Rup, Victoria, but relinquished the farm in 1921 due to health issues. Willie married in 1919 but divorced in 1937. He died in Ararat in 1957, aged 63 years.
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