British War Medal 1914-20 : Able Seaman W J Lane, RANR

British War Medal 1914-20. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

Associated with the service of 103 Able Seaman William John Lane. Lane, a boilermaker's apprentice, was born in Sydney in 1894 and joined the Senior Naval Cadet Service on 27 March 1911. On 1 July 1912 he transferred to the Citizen Naval Force as a stoker second class. Two years later he was promoted to stoker.

On 18 August 1914 Lane embarked aboard HMAS Berrima as a member of 3 Company, Royal Australian Naval Reserve, Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force.

He participated in the landing at Kabakaul and the subsequent capture of the Bitapaka Wireless Station on 11 September 1914. He was then stationed at Herbertshohe until February 1915. Lane returned to Sydney and worked at Cockatoo Dockyard for the remainder of the war. He was rated head stoker on 1 June 1917.