The AIF Project

William Walter James HEAD

Regimental number65
Place of birthUpper Ferntree Gully, Victoria
SchoolFerntree Gully State School, Ferntree Gully, Victoria
Other trainingAccountancy
ReligionMethodist
OccupationPostal employee
Address'Broumore', Leopold Crescent, Mont Albert, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation20
Height5' 7"
Weight144 lbs
Next of kinR H Head, 'Broumore,' Leopold Crescent, Mont Albert, Victoria
Previous military serviceServed for 2 years in the 60th Battalion, Citizen Military Forces
Enlistment date17 August 1914
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll17 August 1914
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentCorporal
Unit name7th Battalion, B Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/24/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A20 Hororata on 19 October 1914
Rank from Nominal RollSergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll7th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularPossibly one of the very first to enlist. (details from parents)
FateKilled in Action 25 April 1915
Place of death or woundingGallipoli, Turkey
Date of death25 April 1915
Age at death21
Age at death from cemetery records21
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 28), Gallipoli, Turkey

The Lone Pine Memorial, situated in the Lone Pine Cemetery at Anzac, is the main Australian Memorial on Gallipoli, and one of four memorials to men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Designed by Sir John Burnet, the principal architect of the Gallipoli cemeteries, it is a thick tapering pylon 14.3 metres high on a square base 12.98 metres wide. It is constructed from limestone mined at Ilgardere in Turkey.

The Memorial commemorates the 3268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who have no known grave and the 960 Australians and 252 New Zealanders who were buried at sea after evacuation through wounds or disease. The names of New Zealanders commemorated are inscribed on stone panels mounted on the south and north sides of the pylon, while those of the Australians are listed on a long wall of panels in front of the pylon and to either side. Names are arranged by unit and rank.

The Memorial stands over the centre of the Turkish trenches and tunnels which were the scene of heavy fighting during the August offensive. Most cemeteries on Gallipoli contain relatively few marked graves, and the majority of Australians killed on Gallipoli are commemorated here.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
50
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Rowland and Isabella HEAD, 26 Bishop Street, Box Hill, Victoria, Australia. Native of Upper Ferntree Gully
Family/military connectionsBrothers: 14325 Sergeant Major Fawcett Dinsdale HEAD, 1st Wireless Signal Squadron, returned to Australia, 16 August 1918; 22207 Driver Gordon Alick HEAD, 3rd Divisional Signal Squadron, returned to Australia, 20 July 1919; 1070 Pte Rowland Henry Jack HEAD, Australian Flying Corps, returned to Australia, 6 May 1919.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Embarked Melbourne, 19 October 1914.

Promoted sergeant, 31 October 1914.

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 5 April 1915.

Killed in action, Gallipoli, 25 April 1915.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, HEAD William Walter James

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