BALDWIN, William Harold
| Service Number: | 3976 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 September 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Delegate, New South Wales, Australia, 1887 |
| Home Town: | Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Pozieres, France, 24 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3976, 2nd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 3976, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 3976, 2nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Medic, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Private William Harold Baldwin was born in 1887 at Delegate NSW. His father, William Henry Baldwin married Winifred Hayes at Delegate NSW in 1885. Winifred, known as Minnie, died of unknown causes the same year as William was born, age 22. She was also the mother of Percy John Baldwin (1886–1969).
William Henry Baldwin remarried Margaret Niven in Delegate in 1890 and fathered another 8 children. They were brought up at Bombala NSW.
The family moved to Sydney in about 1908. The father, William Henry Baldwin died in a truck accident there in 1911, when William junior was 24 years of age. Five of the fathers’ sons served in the AIF.
William Harold Baldwin was killed in his first major battle, at Pozieres on 24 July 1916, age 29. No record exists of how he died but it was noted in his service file that he was buried somewhere near Pozieres. Unknown to him would have been the fact that his half-brother, 2116 Lce. Cpl. Eric Victor Baldwin 53rd Battalion AIF had been killed in action at Fromelles only five days before. In 1918 his identity disc was sent to his stepmother Maggie Baldwin.
During 1936 the remains of an unknown Australian soldier were found near Pozieres, along with a silver matchbox engraved with the initials ‘W.H.B.’, and Base Records wrote to Mrs. Baldwin enquiring as to whether it may have belonged to her William. She replied that she had no knowledge of him owning the matchbox.
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