William Moore Crellin

William Moore Crellin

Personal Information
Date of Birth	c1880
Place of Birth	Altham, Victoria
Death	7 May 1917, 37 years old "7 May 1917, 37 years old" contains more than three components required for a date interpretation.
Place of Death	Bullecourt, France
Age at Enlistment	36 years, 11 months
Description	5'6¼" (1.m) tall ; 173lbs 78.471 kg ; fair complexion ; grey eyes ; fair hair
Occupation	Timber worker
Religion	Church of England
Address	No 1 Mill Manjimup
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs. Alice Crellin
Military Information
Reg Number	5080
Date of Enlistment	9 Feb 1916
Rank	Lance Corporal
Unit/Formation	11th Battalion, 16th reinforcement / 3rd Brigade, 1st Division
Date of Embarkation	31 Mar 1916 ‒ 24 Apr 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A9 Shropshire Fremantle to Egypt
Fate	Killed in Action 7 May 1917
Monument	Jarrahdale Honour Roll Villers-Bretonneux Memorial ANZAC Memorial Park (Byford)
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

After he had completed less than a week's general training, Bill was allocated to the 16th reinforcement draft for the 11th Battalion, and travelled with them to Egypt aboard HMAT A9 Shropshire where they spent a little more than 1 month in training before proceeding to Marseiiles in France from Alexandria. The journey aboard HMT Tunisian took from 29 May until 3 Jun 1916.

On arrival in France Bill proceeded initially to the 1st Division's Base Depot in Étaples, before moving to join the 11th Battalion in the field on 29 Jul 1916 at Berteaucourt as the battalion was recovering form its first stint in the line at Pozières. Bill was allocated to 'C' Company. He obviously showed promise as on 14 Mar 1917 he was appointed Lance Corporal. However on 7 May 1917 he was recorded as Killed in Action, although from reading the battalion's war diary for the period, it may be that his date of death was late evening on 6 May when a series of German attacks were made on positions held by the 11th Battalion near Noreuil. The war diary reports 7 May to have been a quiet day.

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  Villers-Bretonneux Memorial
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  2015 photo L Reynolds

Notes

Appears on the Jarrahdale Millars' Company board so had previously worked in the Jarrahdale district.