The AIF Project

William Armitage MARSHALL

Regimental number164
Place of birthNotawhero, Gisborne, New Zealand
ReligionBaptist
OccupationMiner
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation25
Next of kinAunt, Mrs E Elliott, Brougham Street New Plymouth New Zealand
Enlistment date18 August 1914
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name3rd Battalion, A Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/20/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on 19 October 1914
Rank from Nominal RollCorporal
Unit from Nominal Roll3rd Battalion
Recommendations (Medals and Awards)

Distinguished Conduct Medal


'(Hermies 9 April 1917) Conspicuous gallantry and daring, and rendering valuable servicesas Lewis Gunner.'
Recommendation date: 23 April 1917

FateKilled in Action 17 April 1918
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
37
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: William Armitage and Julia Rechobina MARSHALL
Medals

Distinguished Conduct Medal

'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He handled his machine gun with great skill, and succeeded in silencing the enemy's fire. He has at all times set a splendid example of courage and initiative.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 169
Date: 4 October 1917

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