Inwood, William Thomas
2171 Private William Thomas Inwood - 28th Battalion AIF
William Thomas Inwood was born in King Norton Worcestershire England on the 18th February 1898 to William and Louise Inwood, being the eldest of four siblings.
The 1901 census lists the family at Balsall Heath Worcestershire and William would be educated locally in Worcestershire. By 1911 the family were back at King Norton.
On the 21st May 1913 the family left England and travelled to Australia on the White Star Line ship Belgic. William was 14 years old at this time. After arriving In Western Australia they took up residence at 33 Hulbert Street South Fremantle.
Prior to the Great War William was working s a clerk and also serving in the Fremantle Company of the 86th Infantry Regiment of the Citizen Military Forces.
On the 29th July 1915 William enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for service, with the medical examiner recording William's physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 5 & 1/2 inches tall;
Weight - 115lbs;
Chest Measurement - 32-34 inches;
Complexion - Fresh;
Eyes - Dark Blue;
Hair - Fair.
Upon his successful enlistment, William was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was assigned to No.18 Training Depot. He had about three weeks being taken through the basics of infantry work and was then assigned to the 4th Reinforcements to the 28th Battalion AIF. He trained in WA with this group for another seven weeks.
On the 1st October 1915 William and his group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship HMAT Hororata. The ship then set sail for Egypt, arriving there towards the end of the month. After being disembarked them men would have been expecting to be sent on to Gallipoli, but with plans now in place to evacuate the Dardanelles, William and his group were retained in Egypt.
The 28th Battalion returned to Egypt in January 1916 and William was soon taken on strength.
They remained here for the next several weeks, either training or holding sectors of the Suez Canal defence line. On the 16th March 1916 the 28th Battalion arrived at Alexandria Harbour and boarded a troopship to France, arriving at Marseilles on the 21st March 1916. After being disembarked the men were sent to the north of France where they arrived at Armentieres. They spent the next few months in this sector while they gained experience on the Western Front, before moving to the Somme in July.
On the 29th July 1916 the 28th Battalion took part in an advance against German positions at Pozieres. The 28th Battalion attacked along a raised portion of the battlefield in full view of the Germans and ran into very heavy machine gun and rifle fire and thick uncut barbed wire on the German positions.
William managed to get through these obstacles but as he was getting into the German trench he was shot through the thigh and leg and fell into the trench. With the few men of the 28th battalion who managed to make it to that trench unwounded soon becoming casualties the Germans soon retook the trench and William was taken prisoner.
William's wound was severe and it included a fractured leg, but it took some time to clear the Australian wounded out of the trench and William was eventually sent to a German field hospital.
After being treated at the German field hospital William was sent to Germany being interned at Gottingen. He remained here through to 1917 with medical attention to his wound being sporadic with his wounds and fracture never properly healing while under German care. By the end of 1917 William was send to Switzerland in a repatriation of wounded prisoners.
While William would have to remain in Switzerland, at least his wound could be properly attended to. William would remain in Switzerland till the Armistice.
During his time in Switzerland Willian undertook some education courses run by a British Officer from the Hampshire Regiment. It helped to pass the time while they waited to return to England. The below photo from the Australian War Memorial (A01697) shows a mix of Australian and New Zealand prisoners in Switzerland. William in in the back row 2nd right.
On the 23rd December 1918 William returned to England and upon arrival was sent to the King George Hospital at Stanford. He remained there a week and was then sent to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford. He would remain here until the medical officers determined that he was well enough to be sent home.
It was not till the 31st March 1919 that William boarded the transport ship Wandilla and set sail for home. He arrived at Fremantle on the 9th May 1919 and upon being disembarked was sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle.
William was kept in hospital here for a few months and it was not until January 1920 that he was discharged from the AIF.
In his absence at the war the family had moved to Victoria Avenue North Fremantle/Cottesloe Beach.
Sadly his sister Irene died in Cottesloe WA on the 11th January 1921.
William was married on the 17th June 1925 to Margaret Helen Moncrieff in Mt Barker WA and a son William was born in 1926
The family now lived in Nedlands with William still employed as a clerk.
William's father died on the 15th July 1934 in Perth
In the 1930's and 40's William and the family were living in South Perth and William was working a an insurance superintendent.
His mother died on the 29th March 1958 in Wembley.
William's wife Margaret died on the 20th June 1971 and William followed two years later, dying on the 7th October 1973 at Wembley aged 74. He was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery.