The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (VX120111) Private William Patrick Daley, 14th/32nd Battalion, Second World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Michael Kelly, the story for this day was on (VX120111) Private William Patrick Daley, 14th/32nd Battalion, Second World War.

VX120111 Private William Patrick Daley, 14th/32nd Battalion
KIA 17 January 1943
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 25 July 2015

Today we remember Private William Patrick Daley, who was killed in an accident while serving in Western Australia in 1943.

William Daley was born on 12 October 1921 in Riddles Creek on the southern foothills of the Macedon Ranges, Victoria. He was the son of Patrick and Janet Daley. The family later moved to Armadale in south-eastern Melbourne. Little is known about William Daley’s early life, but in late September 1941, two and a half months before the start of the war in the Pacific, he was mobilised for service in the Militia at nearly 20 years old. After his initial training he was posted to the Militia’s 14th Battalion.

Originally raised in Prahran during the Great War, the 14th Battalion drew in recruits from south and south-west Melbourne. During the interwar period the battalion was granted the title of the “Prahan Regiment”. When Daley marched into his unit it was part of the force performing defensive duties around Port Phillip Bay. The 14th Battalion was sent to the Bellarine Peninsula and spread out between Grovedale and Mount Duneed. In August the battalion moved to Western Australia, where it joined the 6th Brigade around Geraldton. The following month it merged with the Militia’s 32nd Battalion to become the 14th/32nd Battalion.

That November, serving in the battalion’s carrier platoon, Daley transferred to the Australian Imperial Force. At about this time his battalion moved to Bellevue, an eastern suburb of Perth.

In the early hours of 18 January Daley was in Perth when he was hit by a bus and killed. He was 21 years old. In the Perth War Cemetery his tombstone bears the simple epitaph: “Rest in peace”. His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 other Australians killed in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private William Patrick Daley, and all of those Australians who gave their lives during the Second World War.

Dr Karl James
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
National Archives of Australia, service record, William Patrick Daley service record.

14th/32nd Battalion war diary, January 1943, Australian War Memorial: AWM52 8/3/53.

“The Gardens family history: Perth War Cemetery”, http://thegardensfamily.com/Photos/PWC, .