ALLEN William

Private William Allen was born on 8th February 1884 at Warra in Queensland. He was the 6th child born to Joseph Francis and Elizabeth Eliza Allen (nee Beard). Both parents had died before William enlisted in the Army, Joseph in 1903 and Elizabeth in 1914. Prior to enlistment at Maryborough on 26th August 1914 he had spent 3 years in Wide Bay Infantry Regiment and was working as a painter & decorator. He finished school at 18 after secondary schooling. William was 30 years old when he enlisted and conformed to the enlistment standards that were in place at the beginning of the war. September 1914 saw him at the Enoggera barracks, Brisbane which was the main reception camp for Queensland recruits and a staging post before deployment. William was posted as a Private with 9th Battalion A.I.F and along with his elder brother James, embarked at Pinkenba Wharf, Brisbane aboard the H.M.A.T Omrah (A5). The ship sailed on 24th September 1914 at noon and the weather was good. H.M.A.T Omrah was part of the convoy carrying the first contingent to Egypt. The ship sailed in choppy seas and was anchored off Williamstown in Port Phillip by 26th September 1914. The ship remained in Port Melbourne until 19th October where the troops underwent on ship and land training. The ship sailed to Albany and left again on 1st November arriving at Port Said on 2nd December with reports of Measles on board. Troops disembarked and headed for Mena Camp at Cairo where the troops undertook desert training. Between February and March 1915 the 9th Battalion, under orders, moved from Mena Camp through Alexandria to the Island of Lemnos where they encamped until orders for Gallipoli on 8th April 1915. The 9th Battalion embarked aboard the Malda, one of the 30 - 40 transport ships, and under cover of darkness disembarked into lifeboats to go ashore on 25th April 1915 at Ari Burnu. William stated "We knew that we were to face a strong enemy. For a while it was very exciting. We entered the trenches and fought back against the strong attacks". As history has reported the conditions were extremely tough and 9th battalion company's B and C were under heavy attack. Casualties were heavy and 15 soldiers from C company were missing and believed to be taken prisoner. William describes "With the explosion of shrapnel the people around me died, they took me prisoner as I was distracted". William was later to be confirmed as being captured on 30th April 1915 and held as a prisoner of war by the Turks initially at Constantinople and later at Belemedik. He was with other prisoners who worked on the Baghdad rail line. He died from Malaria & Dysentery while a prisoner of war. He was initially buried in the Christian Cemetery at Belemedik and later reburied at Baghdad North Gate War Cemetery, Iraq, Plot 21, Row F, grave 4. The last personal effects of William were returned home to his family via S.S Euripridies in October 1917. Brothers who also served in WW1 - James 601 Military Medal, John Walter 1502, Samuel 1713, Archibald 1757.

• Egypt
• Gallipoli

Belemedick Turkey c.1916. Grave, in the Christian cemetery, of 552 Private William Allen, 9th Battalion, A prisoner of war who was captured by the Turks on 26 August 1915 at Gallipoli. He died December 1916 aged 33 years while working on the Baghdad to Berlin Railway. His body was later reinterred in the War Cemetery in Baghdad. [Source: AWM Collections]

Gympie Memorial Gates - left side

Australian War Memorial - panel 54

Photo: AWM P01645.002
Original held in AWM Archive store - Donor E Chomley

Photo: AWM P01235.001 H.M.A.T Omrah

Diggers Photo: To concede to copyright laws the photo has been cropped to show only William Allen. The original, along with other soldiers in the photo, is depicted on the cover of a book released by Turkish General Staff Directorate of Military History Vol.1&2.

Special thanks to Mesut UYAR, Ph.D., PD
Associate Professor of Ottoman Military History,
Australian Centre for the Study of Armed Conflict and Society, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
The University of New South Wales, Canberra