The AIF Project

William BRENNAN

Regimental number577
Place of birthGympie, Queensland
SchoolBrisbane Grammar School, Queensland
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationPublic servant
AddressLands Department, Brisbane, Queensland
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation42
Next of kinFather, James Brennan, Miles Street, Wooloowin, Brisbane, Queensland
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date3 October 1914
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll30 September 1914
Place of enlistmentBrisbane, Queensland
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name15th Battalion, D Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/32/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board Transport A40 Ceramic on 22 December 1914
Rank from Nominal RollLance Corporal
Unit from Nominal Roll15th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularMember of the English Rifle Club, Brisbane, Queensland.
FateKilled in Action 18 May 1915
Place of death or woundingQuinn's Post, Gallipoli, Turkey
Date of death18 May 1915
Age at death43.4
Age at death from cemetery records43
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 44), 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
75
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Margaret and the late James BRENNAN, Mills Street, Wooloowin, Queensland. Native of Gympie
Family/military connectionsNephew: 387 Sergeant Leslie James STARK, 49th Bn, killed in action, Albert, France, 1 April 1917.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

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