War Memorial Hall c1929
William Allison BLAIR
William Blair was born on 28 January 1889 in Essendon, Victoria. His parents were William Allison and Minnie Waters (née Peck) Blair. He attended Scotch from 1904 to 1906.
William was a stock and station agent when he enlisted on 29 July 1915 at Campbellfield, Victoria. He served in the 38th Battalion with the rank of Sergeant. His Regimental Number was 1032.
William died on 16 February 1917 at Armentieres, France. He was 28 years of age.
Service record
William was just 5 feet 4 inches (162.5 cm) tall. Fellow soldiers described him as ‘thick-set’ or ‘stout’. One said his nickname was ‘Podgy’, another that it was ‘Poddy’, although before the war he had been a very good swimmer, hockey player and competitive shooter. In 1911 he and two other Scotch Collegians had been among six swimmers who had competed for the Championship of the Eaglemont Swimming Club. William was the fifth of the six to be killed, including Old Collegians Colin Cameron and Oscar Chilvers.
William enlisted as a Private, but by December 1915 was a Sergeant with the 12th Depot Battalion. In 1915 he was twice sent to a Clearing Station with catarrh for 11 days. He was allotted to the recently formed 38th Battalion on 1 June 1916. He sailed from Melbourne on 20 June 1916 and arrived at Plymouth, England on 10 August.
William was in the ‘Old Country’ for more than three months, leaving with the 38th Battalion for France on 22 November 1916. He was sent to a 3rd Divisional School in late January 1917 and returned to his battalion on 11 February. Within just five days he had been killed in action. His Red Cross Wounded and Missing file contains the usual mixture of testimonies. Fellow Sergeant James Bedworth seems most plausible. He reported seeing William killed instantly by German shell fragments in the front line trench called ‘Irish Avenue’, at Houplines (see below). Several said he was looking out from the trench at the time.
After his death, the officer in charge of his company, Major Hurry, wrote to William’s family that William had been in charge of a post at the end of the company’s very muddy and dangerous trench line. Whenever Hurry had visited this post each day for 10 days he found William ‘the life and soul of the party’, always solicitous for his men.
On William’s headstone was engraved, at his father’s instruction, the motto ‘Vigilantia Robur Voluptas’ (vigilance, strength, pleasure), which seems to have been a Blair family motto.
William Blair is buried in the Cite Bonjeane Military Cemetery (Plot IV, Row E, Grave No. 42), Armentieres, France.
Photographs and Documents:
William Blair is in the front row, second from the left in this photo taken in 1916. Among the others, Wood, Collins, Beaver, and Davies would all die in the war.
Sources:
- Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour and Red Cross Wounded and Missing file
- Mishura Scotch Database
- National Archives of Australia – B2455, BLAIR W A
- Scotch Collegian 1917
- The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=24534
