Studio portrait of 4888 Gunner William Joseph Willis, 5th Australian Field Artillery Brigade ...

Accession Number H06516
Collection type Photograph
Object type Black & white - Print silver gelatin
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Studio portrait of 4888 Gunner William Joseph Willis, 5th Australian Field Artillery Brigade (FAB) from Cessnock, NSW. A 23 year old miner prior to enlisting on 7 August 1915, he embarked for overseas with the 15th Reinforcements of the 1st Battalion from Sydney on 8 March 1916 aboard HMAT Star of England. While undergoing further training in Egypt, he was transferred to the 53rd Battalion and then on arrival in France joined the 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column and then the 5th FAB. He was killed in action at Passchendaele, Belgium on 6 November 1917 and was buried in the Birr Cross Roads Cemetery, Zillebeke, Belgium.