WILLEY, Walter Henry
| Service Numbers: | 15743, N278688 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 April 1916, Victoria Barracks, Sydney, aged 27 |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 14th Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Sunderland, Durham, England, 10 February 1889 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Motor Mechanic |
| Died: | Manly, New South Wales, Australia, 23 November 1963, aged 74 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 15743, 14th Field Company Engineers, Victoria Barracks, Sydney, aged 27 | |
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| 31 Oct 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 15743, Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Marathon embarkation_ship_number: A74 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Oct 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 15743, Field Company Engineers, HMAT Marathon, Sydney | |
| 31 Jul 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 15743, 14th Field Company Engineers, Third Ypres, Arrived at the port of Etaples in northern France on 13 April 1917 | |
| 26 Sep 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 15743, 14th Field Company Engineers, Polygon Wood | |
| 30 Oct 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sapper, 15743, 14th Field Company Engineers, Third Ypres, Shot in right thigh, transferred to England for treatment | |
| 8 Aug 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 15743, 14th Field Company Engineers, "The Last Hundred Days" | |
| 17 Jun 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sapper, 15743, 14th Field Company Engineers |
World War 2 Service
| 11 Feb 1942: | Enlisted N278688 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stuart Walkley
Great uncle Walter Henry Willey was born in northern England in 1889, and worked as a hewer in the coal mines. He migrated to Sydney sometime after 1911, and worked as a motor mechanic. He enlisted in the 1st AIF in April 1916 at age 27, and was made a sapper in the 14th Field Company Engineers, attached to the 5th Division. He left Sydney in October 1916, disembarked at Plymouth in January 1917, and arrived in northern France in April 1917. He was shot in the right thigh in October 1917, while in action around Ypres. He required 8 months recovery in England, then rejoined his unit in July 1918, until the end of the war. He returned to Sydney in June 1919, married in 1921, and had 2 children. Walter then trained to be a Minister in the Methodist Church.
Awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal in October 1922.
Walter was called up on 11 February 1942 at age 53, 2 months after Pearl Harbour. He had been a Methodist Minister around NSW for many years, and was made an army Chaplin. He was married and had 2 teenagers at Five Dock in Sydney. He was based at Bathurst Army Camp until April 1943, when he was transferred to Holsworthy Camp in western Sydney. He retired from the army in May 1944, and died at Manly in 1963 at age 74.
Awarded the Australian Efficiency Decoration in August 1944.