Driver William Finding

William Finding was born at Carlton, Melbourne, in 1892 to parents Wilson and Rose Ann (née Blackmore) Finding. He grew up in Melbourne with his family, and became an apprentice paper ruler when he was fifteen years old. This became his occupation, which he continued until the outbreak of the First World War.

Finding enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 10 November 1914, at the age of 22 and 11 months. He embarked on HMAT Ceramic on 22 December 1914. He was assigned to 17 Divisional Ammunition Sub-Park as a cleaner, and worked with his unit in France from July 1915. He was promoted to dr iver on 28 August 1915. However, his service was characterised by many small misdemeanours such as failing to obey orders, breaching censorship rules, using petrol to clean vehicles, and having a lighted primus stove in a lorry.

While in France, Finding took part in a concert givenby 17 Ammunition Australian Sub-Park on 25 December 1915, singing “Thora”. The concert featured instrumentals, vocal performances, recitations and debates. On 4 April 1916, during a period of leave in England, he married Daisy Winifred Mares who lived in South Front , Romsey.
On 18 January, Finding was transferred to the Australian Mechanical Transport Section in England, and served with this unit until the end of the war. In April 1919 he applied for non-military employment as a machine ruler, so that he could study the latest methods and machinery of the trade. He returned to Australia on HMAT Nestor on 1 November 1919.

Finding returned to England on 20 April 1920 on TSS Miltiades to be with his wife Daisy. They had a daughter named Marjorie Betty Finding, who was born in 1921 in Romsey, Hampshire, in 1921. The family left England on 14 December 1946 to move to Australia. They settled in Melbourne together, and Finding continued to work as a paper ruler. William Finding died at Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, Melbourne, on 23 February 1974 at the age of 82.