William Alexander JAMIESON

Regimental number2144
Place of birthJunee, New South Wales
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationPorter
AddressJunee, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation18
Height5' 8"
Weight119 lbs
Next of kinFather, Duncan Jamieson, Simpson Street, Tumut, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date26 September 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll15 September 1915
Place of enlistmentCootamundra, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name31st Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/48/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A70 Ballarat on 18 February 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll31st Battalion
FateKilled in Action 21 July 1916
Age at death from cemetery records19
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
118
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Duncan and Agnes JAMIESON, Simpson Street, Tumut, New South Wales
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Embarked Melbourne, 18 February 1916.

Found guilty, 10 March 1916, of talking on parade: admonished.

Found guilty, 17 March 1916, of eating at table before meal time: awarded 3 days' defaulter's parade.

Disembarked Suez, 23 March 1916.

Taken on strength of 31st Bn, Duntroon Plateau, 1 April 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 17 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 25 June 1916.

Reported missing, 21 July 1916.

German list received by the Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society, 4 November 1916, 'identification marks found on the Prisoner of War are inspected by the General War Bureau, and shown in the List as under DEAD'.

Identity disc received from Germany, 24 February 1917, no particulars afforded except that soldier is deceased; to be reported as 'Killed in Action, 21 July 1916'.

Statement by Private Thomas Hyde, 692, C Company, 31st Bn, 6 September 1916, 'Informant states that on July 19th 1916 at Fleurbaix Pte W. A. Jamieson was killed. No particulars are known but the Casualty was rumoured in his company.'

Note on Red Cross File No 1421012: 'The above name appeared on German list of dead dated 4-11-16.'

Note on file: 'Buried Fleurbaix Sh. 36. N.W. A.I.F. Hdqrs List for Lt. Spedding. London 28.4.19.'

Note on file: Next-of-kin disc (Jamieson, Mrs. D. Simpson Street, Tumut N.S.W.) found at German War Office, Berlin and forwarded by Capt. Mills. 1.9.19.'

Statement, 2114 Pte L. BECKETT, 31st Bn, 2 August 1919: 'Casualty did not return after the 21st July stunt 1916, but informant has received from his people a copy of a letter they received from the German Red Cross stating that 2144 Pte Jamieson had died of wounds.'

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, JAMIESON William Alexander
Red Cross file 1421012