William ABRAHAM

Regimental number744
Date of birth1882
Place of birthMepunga, Victoria
Other NamesWilliam Strong
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationLabourer
Addressc/o Mrs Dow, Marine Terrace, Geraldton, Western Australia
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation32
Height5' 9"
Weight155 lbs
Next of kinW M Abraham, Mepunga via Allansford, Victoria
Previous military serviceServed in Victorian Mounted Rifles for 1 year; left the district.
Enlistment date5 September 1914
Place of enlistmentBlackboy Hill, Western Australia
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name11th Battalion, G Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/28/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board Transport A11 Ascanius on 2 November 1914
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll11th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 22-25 July 1916
Place of death or woundingPozieres, Somme Sector, France
Age at death34
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
61
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Commemorated in Warrnambool Cemetery, Victoria. Parents: William (d. 18 September 1922, aged 70; bu. Warrnambool) and Barbara (d. 15 June 1941, aged 87; bu. Warrnambool) ABRAHAM
Family/military connectionsBrother: 1028 Sergeant Albert Stanley ABRAHAM, 9th Bn, died of disease, 18 October 1915.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked Al;exandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 2 March 1915.

Wounded in action, Gallipoli, 25 April 1915 (gun shot wound, buttock); admitted to 1st Australian General Hospital, Heliopolis, 30 April 1915; rejoined Bn, Gallipoli, 26 May 1915.

Wounded in action (second occasion), 24 July 1915 (gun shot wound, right thigh), and admitted to 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station; transferred to Malta, 29 July 1915, and admitted to Valetta Military Hospital; transferred to St Patrick's Hospital, 21 August 1915; discharged to duty, 1 September 1915, and embarked for Egypt.

Joined Australian Overseas Base Depot, Mustapha, 5 September 1915.

Admitted to 17th General Hospital, Alexandria, 8 September 1915 (wound, right thigh: slight); transferred to Convalescent Camp, 4 October 1915; discharged to duty, 13 October 1915.

Embarked Alexandria to join the MEF, 3 November 1915; rejoined Bn, Gallipoli, 19 November 1915.

Disembarked Alexandria, 11 January 1916 (general Gallipoli evacuation).

Admitted to 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital, Abbassia, 8 January 1916 (veneral disease: warts and balinitis); discharged to duty, 10 March 1916; total period of treatment for venereal disease: 63 days; rejoined Bn, Serapeum, 24 March 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 29 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 5 April 1916.

Killed in action, 22-25 July 1916.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, ABRAHAM William