ABBLEY, William
Service Number: | 3039 |
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Enlisted: | 18 July 1915, Keswick, South Australia |
Last Rank: | Private |
Last Unit: | Army Medical Corps (AIF) |
Born: | West Hartlepool, England, 18 August 1890 |
Home Town: | Wayville, Unley, South Australia |
Schooling: | England |
Occupation: | Hatter |
Died: | Severe pleurisy, Keswick Military Hospital, South Australia, 11 November 1932, aged 42 years |
Cemetery: |
North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, South Australia Plot 5439, Path 30 South |
Memorials: | South Australian Garden of Remembrance , Unley Wayville Honor Roll |
World War 1 Service
18 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Keswick, South Australia | |
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14 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3039, 12th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1 | |
14 Sep 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, HMAT Ballarat (A70) | |
4 Dec 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3039, 12th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
1 Mar 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3039, 52nd Infantry Battalion | |
24 Jun 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3039, 17th Army Service Corps, Battle for Pozières | |
25 Oct 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3039, Army Medical Corps (AIF), Battle for Pozières | |
16 May 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1 |
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Father Andrew Abbley and Mother Elizabeth (nee Horner).
Wife Annie Lillian Abbley living at 91 Rose Terrace, Wayville, South Australia
Lillian said: "We were childhood sweethearts in West Hartlepool.
I met him first when he came to my thirteenth birthday party."
"When my father, mother and I came to Australia in 1912, he came with us.
We were married 10 months before he left for the front."
Described on enlisting as 24 years 11 months old; 5' 3.5" tall; married; 129 lbs;
medium complexion; grey eyes; brown hair, Church of England
14/7/1915 Completed medical - fit for service
Commanding Officer appointed William to 10th Reinf,12th Battalion
Mitcham Camp
18/7/1915 Enlisted at Keswick
14/9/1915 Embarked from Adelaide onboard the HMAT A70 Ballarat
4/12/1915 Taken on strength of 12th Battalion at Sarpi Camp, Lemnos, Greece
6/1/1915 Disembarked Alexandria, Egypt
1/3/1916 Transferred to and taken on strength of 52nd Battalion, Tel el Kebir
5/6/1916 Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force
12/6/1916 disembarked Marseilles, France
7/8/1916 Wounded in action (shell shock - shrapnel wound, right shoulder)
8/8/1916 admitted to No. 4 Australian Field Ambulance
8/8/1916 transferred to No. 44 Casualty Clearing Station
8/8/1916 to No. 15 Ambulance Train
9/8/1916 to No. 2 Australian General Hospital, Boulogne
9/8/1916 Embarked on 'HS Jan Breydel' ex Bolougne for England
10/9/1916 to County of Middlesex War Hospital, Napsbury
15/8/1916 to Military Hospital, Middlesex
Medical report stated that William lost hearing in both ears, the left ear returned hearing
after 14 days, his right ear remained deaf. (21/9/1919 - AG Hospital, Keswick)
27/9/1916 marched into No. 1 Command Depot, Perham Downs
26/12/1916 marched into 13th Training Battalion, Codford (Class C1)
25/6/1917 transferred to and taken on strength of No. 17 Field Ambulance,
Windmill Hill, Codford
21/9/1917 marched into Details Camp, Parkhouse
25/10/1917 marched into Overseas Training Brigade, Longbridge Deverill
13/12/1917 marched into Australian Army Medical Corps Depot
26/1/1919 Returned to Australia onboard HT 'Demosthenes'
The HMAT A64 Demosthenes weighed 11,223 tons with an average cruise speed of 15 knots or 27.78 kmph. It was owned by the G Thompson & Co Ltd, London, and leased by the Commonwealth.
26/2/1919 disembarked into Adelaide
16/5/1919 Discharged from service, due to deafness in right ear,
attributable to service
Medals:
WWI 1914/15 Star; British War medal (5650), Victory medal (5600)
31/1/1921 Daughter Lilian Mary passed away at 4 months of age.
"Every day for over seven weeks Mrs Abbley had visited Keswick Hospital to be by her husband's side. She said she had never known kindness such as had been shown by the doctors and nurses at the hospital.”
11/11/1932 William died at 11am on Remembrance day.
at Keswick Military Hospital, Keswick, South Australia
He had a severe attack of pleurisy, which brought on the disease
responsible for his death, attributed to his war service.
Mrs Lilian Abbley said:
"The hospital bell was just ringing for silence when he died."
"It seemed to me a fitting time for him to go, for he had suffered much.
I had been at the hospital for five hours. We had thought the end was near for days.
He died from an illness that followed his service in the war."
Mr. Abbley, who lived in Jervis street, St. Leonards, had been in hospital for
several months.
Buried in: Plot 5439, Path 30 South.
North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, South Australia
Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan. 1/10/2014. Lest we forget.