Elliott, William Henry
No.1806 – Gunner William Henry Elliott – 8th Battery 3rd FAB
William Henry Elliott was born in Swindon Wiltshire in 1886 to William and Mary Elliott. He was educated at the local elementary school and after leaving took up service with the Royal Navy. He spent seven years with the Royal Navy and then took up work as a ships cook. On arrival in Australia in 1911 he took up work as a Cook, working in Hotels in both Fremantle and Cottesloe. He resided in North Fremantle. On the 17th August 1914 William enlisted in the AIF. He was passed as fit with the medical examiner finding him to be 5 feet 6 inches tall, weight of 147 lbs; chest measurement of 35-37 inches; fair complexion; grey eyes and light brown hair.
William was assigned to the 8th Battery of the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade with the rank of Gunner and the regimental no.1806. He trained with this group in WA until the end of October 1914 when they received their orders to depart. On the 2nd November 1914 William boarded the H.M.A.T. “Medic” and made his way to Egypt. They trained in Egypt for the next few months and departed for Lemnos in April 1915.
The infantry landed at Gallipoli on April 25th 1915 and made their way inland. The countryside was more rugged than expected and with the infantry failing to get much of a foothold there was limited areas to site artillery batteries. The Artillery Commander General Hobbs landed on April 25th and checked out areas of land where the batteries could be sited. Spots were eventually picked where the batteries could fire across their front to support their soldiers.
The 8th Battery was placed in an area known as Shell Green near Browns Dip which was in the southern portion of the Anzac battlefield. It was quite an exposed position and Turkish artillery was not slow to lob shells into the position with the result that there was a steady trickle of casualties. William who was now promoted to Bombardier served through the first few months of the campaign.
In early August William suffered shrapnel wounds to the arms, legs and head and was evacuated back to the beach where he was treated and then sent on the hospital ship H.T. “Gloucester Castle”.
Unfortunately his wounds proved too severe to recover from and he died on the 6th August 1915. His records state that he was buried at sea in a service officiated by the Reverend C.S. Parker. However a later entry states that William was buried at Chatby Military and War Memorial Cemetery plot J.142.
His Mother in Newport England received his effects and medals.