Jones, William

No.4834 – Private William Jones – 48^th Battalion AIF

William Jones was born in Cardiff Wales in 1896. His early life in England is unknown except he spent his early years around Glamorgan. Circa 1911 he moved to Western Australia and took up residence in Fremantle. William saw service in the 86A Citizen Military Forces Cadets and served with them during his full time employment as a fireman. On the 19^th November 1915 William went to the Perth Drill Hall to enlist in the AIF. He was passed as fit with the medical examiner finding him to be 5 feet 2 ¼ inches tall; weight of 117 lbs; chest measurement of 33-36 inches; fresh complexion; blue eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was Church of England.

William spent over two months at the Training Depots at Blackboy Hill Camp and it wasn’t until the 1^st of February 1916 that he was allotted to a unit. William was assigned to the 15^th Reinforcements to the 16^th Battalion. He spent February and March of 1916 training with this group in WA. William’s personal life also took on a change in 1916 when he married Elizabeth Clarke in Fremantle. While William was training she remained living with her family at 127 Forrest Street Fremantle. They had a child called William but unfortunately he died not long after being born.

They did not have long together as a married couple as on the 1^st April 1916 William and his group boarded the H.M.A.T. “Ulysses” in Fremantle Harbour and set sail overseas. The voyage to Egypt took just over three weeks and on the 25^th April 1916 they arrived at Suez. They were then disembarked and on the 26^th April were marched into the 4^th Training Battalion. William remained with this training unit for the remainder of his time in Egypt. On the 7^th June he was in Alexandria and boarded the H.M.T. “Huntspill” which took the men to France; arriving at Marseilles on the 14^th June 1916.

After disembarking the men were marched through Marseilles to the Railway Station and boarded a train which took them north to Etaples. Here William was sent into the 4^th Australian Division Base Depot where he remained until the 9^th August. Instead of being sent to the 16^th Battalion, William was transferred to join the 48^th Battalion, being taken on strength in the vicinity of Pozieres on the 13^th August 1916. He had missed the Battalion’s first foray at Pozieres but fought with them during their 2^nd time in the line as the attempt was made to capture Mouquet Farm.

William survived his time at Mouquet Farm unscathed and remained with the Battalion as they were sent north to a quieter part of the line near Ypres in Belgium. The 48^th remained here through September and into October and while it was a quieter part of the front casualties did still indeed occur. On 1^st October 1916 while the 48^th Battalion was in the line at Vierstratt 10 high explosive shells dropped into their positions, nine exploded harmlessly but one crashed into a dugout occupied by a Lewis gun team. Three men were killed instantly while three others were severely wounded.

Those killed were No.1764 Private Mackie; No.2772 Private Short and No.1838 Private Verrall. William Jones was among those who had been severely wounded, with shrapnel striking him through his legs and arms. He was evacuated by the 12^th Field Ambulance and taken to the 3^rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. The wounds proved too severe to recover from and William died at 2.45am on the 2^nd October 1916. He was buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in plot X.B.18A.

William’s two brothers in law also served in the war; No.406A John Clarke died of wounds on the 11^th August 1918 and is buried at Daours Communal Cemetery; while Harry Clarke served in the Camel Corps and 14^th Light Horse Regiment, returning home in 1919.