Holloway, William John

4828 Private William John Holloway - 48th Battalion AIF

William John Holloway was born in Fremantle in July 1893 to Joseph and Elizabeth Holloway. He was one of several siblings, with, Mary (1874), James (1876), Emma (1877), Alice (1882), Walter (1885), Frances (1886), Florence (1888), Frederick (1891), Ernest (1897), and Joseph.

The family were living at 83 Solomon Street Beaconsfield. (now 47 Solomon Street) and William was educated at East Fremantle Primary School.

After leaving school he took up employment as a Butcher, and like his brother Fred he also worked at Robbs Jetty as a slaughterman.

Sadly his father Joseph died on the 15th October 1915. William had already decided to follow his two brothers, Ernest and Fred to enlist into the AIF, but his father's death delayed things. Ernest was overseas serving but Fred and William were able to attend their fathers funeral in Fremantle Cemetery.

On the 27th November 1915 William offered his services to the Australian Imperial Force and was accepted as fit for service. The medical examiner recorded his physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 7 & 1/2 inches;

Weight - 133lbs;

Chest Measurement - 34-37 inches;

Complexion - Fair;

Eyes - Grey;

Hair - Light Brown;

Distinctive Marks - Tattoos heart and arrow on one arm and cross hand and flowers on other arm.

After his successful enlistment William was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 38th Training Depot and then the 5th Depot Battalion. He was taken through the basics of infantry work at this depot.

On the 1st February 1916 he was assigned to the 15th Reinforcements to the 16th Battalion AIF. He trained with this group in WA for the next month. On the 6th March 1916 they travelled down to Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship HMAT Ulysses and set sail for Egypt.

After arriving in Egypt in April, William was retained in the reinforcement camp as the 16th Battalion was already at it's full complement of numbers. As part of the 4th Division reinforcement group, William travelled to France from Egypt on the 7th June 1916. They arrived at Marseilles a week later and from there were then entrained north for Etaples.

William was taken on strength of the 48th Battalion AIF on the 18th July 1916. He joined them in time for their actions at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm. He came through these actions in August 1916 safely, but on the 12th September 1916 after the unit had moved to Belgium, William came down ill.

He was sent to the 7th General hospital at St Omer where he was diagnosed with mumps. He recovered soon after and returned to the 48th Battalion by the 29th September 1916.

The 48th Battalion soon returned to the Somme Battlefield and they remained there from November 1916 to March 1917. Though they did not undertake any major actions during this period, they were holding the front line in atrocious freezing conditions of the French winter.

On the 6th February 1917 William was sent to hospital sick and was diagnosed with venereal disease. He was admitted to the 51st General Hospital at Etaples. William would remain out of action until June 1917, (thereby missing two of his battalion very costly actions at Bullecourt and Messines).

When he was released from hospital in June, William was sent to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot. He was retained here for the next few months while he regained full fitness.

It wasn't until the 30th September 1917 that William rejoined the 48th Battalion. The unit was then at Ypres and they were in the Zonnebeke and Broodseinde sector.

On October 12th 1917 William took part in his unit's attack on Passchendaele. Due to the horrible muddy conditions and open flanks, the attack did not succeed. Casualties were heavy and during the advance and William had been shot through the wrist.

He was evacuated back to the 4th Stationary Hospital and then on the 8th November 1917 to the 7th Convalescent Depot at Boulogne. Fortunately the wound was not severe and William was back with the 48th Battalion in December 1917.

Shortly after rejoining the 48th Battalion, William had an occurrence of scabies so he had to be returned to hospital for a fortnight while he recovered.

From January to March 1918 the 48th Battalion were in Belgium, helping to hold the front line between Ypres and Messines.

On the 5th February 1918 William was granted a two week furlough to England. When his leave was over he reported in sick to AIF HQ in England. He was diagnosed with venereal disease and was sent to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital at Bulford.

On the 21st March 1918 he was released for duty and was sent to No.1 Command Depot at Sutton Veny. On the 11th April 1918 he was transferred to the Overseas Training Brigade Camp at Longbridge Deverell. He spent nearly a month at this camp but on the 8th May 1918 he was put into a draft of soldiers that were heading to France. They boarded a troopship and left from Folkestone Harbour and proceeded across the Channel to France.

After arriving at Etaples, William was sent to the Division Base Depot Camp but three days later was taken on strength of the 48th Battalion. The 48th Battalion were then in the vicinity of Villers-Bretonneux.

The 48th Battalion participated in the action at Hamel on July 4th 1918 and then were in constant action from August 8th to September 18th 1918 as the great advance from Amiens took place which pushed the Germans back.

After the action at Le Verguier on September 18th, the 48th battalion were pulled out of the line for a well deserved rest period.

The 48th Battalion were still out of the line when the Armistice was signed on November 11th 1918. William remained with them up till the 31st March 1919. He then returned to England and was sent to the base camp to await a transport ship home. As it turned out William and his brother Fred both boarded the ship Bremen on the 4th June 1919 and set sail for Australia, reaching Fremantle on the 18th July 1919.

After being disembarked William was sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace for a medical check up. He was subsequently discharged from the AIF on the 7th September 1919.

Sadly shortly after the brothers returned home, their mother died on the 14th August 1919.

In 1921 William married Myrtle Christian Anderson and they lived at 81 King Street East Fremantle. (now 37 King Street)

In 1923 a daughter Myrtle was born and was followed in 1924 with another daughter Beryl and Rita in 1926.

In 1925 they were at 30 King Street East Fremantle (later 10 King Street but bulldozed when Stirling Highway went through) and William was working as a Slaughterman at the Wyndham meatworks. Though he worked for this company in Fremantle he increasingly appears to have gone up to Wyndham quite often and by the late 1930's was an almost permanent resident at Wyndham.

William died at Wyndham on the 15th June 1946. He was reported buried in an unmarked grave 3 miles east of the town.