100 days of heroes: Tasmanian Bill Whelan enlisted in Hobart, killed in Belgium

OATLANDS-born Bill Whelan was 25 and living in Hobart when he enlisted for service in World War I in September 1915.

OATLANDS-BORN Bill Whelan was 25 and living in Hobart when he enlisted for service in World War I in September 1915.

Born in 1890, the second son of Mt Seymour farmers Walter and Amelia Whelan had nine siblings.

After leaving school he worked as a labourer and joined the local militia, serving with the Derwent Infantry’s Hobart-based A Company for three years.

Bill was living at 13 Union St, North Hobart, with wife Clarice and their adopted daughter Mollie Gwendoline when he joined up.

He left Australia in January 1916, sailing on HMAT Afric, bound for Egypt where he would join the 26th Battalion.

Mercury 100 days of heroes.World War I soldier William Henry Whelan is commemorated at tree #428 on the Soldiers' Memorial Avenue in HobartPicture: Australian War Memorial

After proceeding to France he was wounded in action in August 1916, receiving a gunshot injury to his right wrist. He was evacuated to England for treatment in Liverpool and returned to France in time for Christmas Eve with his battalion.

During 1917 he became ill with tonsillitis and was again evacuated to England. By the time he rejoined his battalion in October it had transferred from France to Belgium.

On December 16, 1917, Bill was a member of a working party at Messines when he was struck by a machine gun bullet on the upper part of his leg.

The wound was so severe that he died the same day, aged 27, despite efforts to stem the arterial bleeding. He was deemed to have been killed in action and was buried in the Bethleem Farm West Military Cemetery, Belgium.

Bill’s wife later remarried and moved to New South Wales, but five years after the war’s end she wrote to the army a second time to ask about his personal effects.

Bill Whelan, standing posed for this photo with a Belgian refugee while he was recovering from injuries in Liverpool England. Picture: B. SMITH

Records showed that a parcel had been sent in September 1918, containing photos, a mirror, four wallets, a silver wristwatch and case, and religious symbols, but these were never received.

Mrs Whelan was told in November 1918 that considerable delays were being experienced in forwarding soldiers’ belongings to Australia due to shipping issues, but the response in 1923 was that the items had been lost when the SS Barunga was sunk during enemy action.

Fortunately Bill’s service medals, memorial scroll and plaque, and a photo of his grave in Belgium, were safely in his widow’s hands.

Private William Henry Whelan is remembered at tree 428 on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue as well as on the Hobart Town Hall honour board. In 1924 Bill’s sisters included a memorial plaque in his honour on their mother’s grave at Hobart’s Cornelian Bay Cemetery.

Bill Whelan’s grave in VC Corner Cemetery, France. Picture: B. SMITH

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