The AIF Project

William PLUNKETT

Regimental number586
Place of birthLancashire England
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLabourer
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation32
Next of kinFather, W Plunkett, Police Court, Liverpool, England
Enlistment date10 September 1914
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll19 August 1914
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name11th Battalion, Machine Gun Section
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A11 Ascanius on 2 November 1914
Rank from Nominal RollSergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll11th Battalion
Recommendations (Medals and Awards)

Distinguished Conduct Medal


Recommendation date: "May 1916

Croix de Guerre


Recommendation date: 20 January 1917

Distinguished Conduct Medal


Recommendation date: 6 October 1918"

FateKilled in Action 16 April 1917
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
63
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
PLUNKETT WILLIAM, D.C.M
Medals

Distinguished Conduct Medal

'For conspicuous gallantry in action. He fought his machine gun under intense fire with great courage and determination, thereby greatly assisting in the reorganization of the line.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 116
Date: 25 July 1917

Croix de Guerre (France)


Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 169
Date: 4 October 1917

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