Cottrell (Coparelitto), William Vivian
2695 Private William Vivian Cottrell (Coparelitto) - 2nd Light Railway Operating Company
William Vivian Coparelitto was said to have been born on the 25th January 1886 in Fremantle WA to James and Lillian Carter, and was one of twelve siblings born into the family.
William was educated in North Fremantle and after leaving school he took up employment with the WA Government Railways.
In 1910 he married Ethel May Jones in Kanowna in the WA Goldfields.
They would have a Daughter Lillian in 1910, Charles in 1912, Muriel in 1915, Bertha in 1917, Septimus in 1920, Leslie in 1923, Ethel in 1925 and Norman in 1929.
By 1916 William was working as a Shunter for the WAGR and the family was living in Northam.
When William enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force he had changed his surname from Coparelitto to Cottrell.
On the 15th October 1917 he successfully enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. The medical examiner passed him as fit for service and recorded his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 6 inches tall;
Weight - 126lbs;
Chest Measurement - 34 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Brown.
After his successful enlistment William was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp. Due to his work as a railway man, when he reached Camp, William was assigned to the Railway Corps reinforcements.
On the 13th March 1918 William and his reinforcement group left Fremantle aboard the transport ship Ormonde. They arrived at Suez in Egypt where they were disembarked. They remained in Egypt till the 3rd May 1918 when they re-embarked at Alexandria aboard the ship Manitou. The ship sailed to Marseilles France, and then four days later arrived at Southampton on the 15th May 1918.
After being disembarked William and his group were sent to the Railway Corps Depot Camp at Longmoor. William had the next five weeks here and was then transferred to France on the 26th June 1918.
On the 1st July 1918 William was taken on strength of the 5th Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company. He only spent eleven days with this unit and was then transferred to the 2nd Light Railway Operating Company. The task of this unit was to move men and supplied between the bases and the front. The men often came under long range shellfire or bombing from German Gotha planes.
William served with his unit through to April 1919 when he was given his first break, with a fortnight's leave to England. He overstayed his leave by 20 days and while he was punished, now that the war was over it was not severe as it would have been before the 11th November 1918.
On the 12th April 1919 William returned to France and spent three more weeks with his unit before he was returned to England. William was sent to Codford Camp where he waited to be assigned a berth on a transport ship home.
On the 1st July 1919 he boarded the transport ship Karmala and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 10th August 1919. He was then discharged from the AIF on the 31st August 1919.
He then returned home to the family in Northam and resumed working for the WA Government Railways where he was a railway guard.
William died on the 29th June 1928 Wyalkatchem and was buried at Northam Cemetery.
(Photo courtesy of Cottrell family)