Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William (Billy) Edmund Still (2251)
William (Billy) Edmund Still was a stockman before WW1. He was born at Herberton on 16 September 1884, the son of William George Lewis Still and Sarah Mary Eleanor Delaney Still, residents of Stannary Hills. He took his oath to the King in Townsville on 28 February 1916 and joined the 47th Infantry Battalion (4th Reinforcements) of the AIF (with service number 2251).

He trained at Chermside and embarked from Brisbane in August 1916 on HMAT Boorara for the two month trip to England. He proceeded to France in December 1916 and marched in to join his unit on 5 February 1917. In 1917 Still’s battalion took part in the entrenched warfare of the Somme campaign at Bullecourt and then switched to the Ypres sector in Belgium. During the 3rd Ypres-Passchendaele campaign, on 13 October 1917, Still was reported missing in action. He was captured the previous day at Ypres Roulers Railway and interned at Limburg prison camp for the rest of the War. His mother was informed that he was missing in action and subsequently that he was a Prisoner of War in German hands but that the prisoner was “sound”.

The Germans captured 3850 Australian POWs in WW1 on the Western Front and the Australian Red Cross Society dispatched 395,695 food parcels and 36,339 clothing parcels to POWs during the War. The POW camp at Limburg where Still was held was a major camp with a capacity of 12,000 POWs. Following the signing of the armistice he was repatriated to England, arrived at Dover on 2 December 1918 and marched in to Weymouth from London on 4 January 1919. He returned to Australia in March 1919 to be discharged on 8 June.

A butcher by trade, he also did occasional work for the Cardwell Shire Council both before and after the War. In 1914, for example, he was paid £15 for repairing the Valley of Lagoons road and in 1915 tendered for chipping the culverts, bridges and other works in Divisions 1 and 3, for which he required £28, and could complete the job in five weeks. However, a lower tender was accepted. In late 1919 he did some work on the roads and in 1921 he repaired the Tully River ferry boat.

He was the mail carrier between Cardwell, Murray Upper and Kirrama Station from as early as 1911 and continued to carry mail after the War. He nominated for the Shire Council elections for Division 2 in 1921 but was not successful.

He was a racing man. In 1923 he entered his horse, Tullyaller, in the Novice Handicap which was open to all horses that had not previously won a prize exceeding £5 ($10), a race of four furlongs and worth six sovereigns ($12) to the winner. Later in the programme this horse also ran in the Ladies Choice race on behalf of Miss V Blackman. He had a second horse, Pituri, in other races.

Billy worked at Teitzel’s butcher’s shop in Tully when the town became established and also delivered meat to customers. In those days meat was usually delivered in a sack, without ice. In July 1925 Still purchased three allotments in the new town of Tully for a total of £320.

During Still’s days as a mailman he was associated with the Blackman family. He married Miss Veronica Mary Blackman in September 1926, but died three years later on 7 September 1929 in Brisbane. He was buried in Toowong Cemetery. Courtesy of The Cardwell Historical Society, Cardwell, submitted by Memories of Herberton and District Research Team.