Name
William Johnstone Stevens
1 May 1868
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
15/11/1917
49
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Chaplain 3rd Class
Australian Army Chaplains Department
5th Inf. Bde.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
BROOKWOOD MILITARY CEMETERY
XI. B. 18.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
THANKS BE TO GOD WHICH GIVETH US THE VICTORY
UK & Other Memorials
Digswell House Australian Hospital Memorial, St John's Church, Digswell
Pre War
William Johnston(e) Stevens was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England on 1 May 1868., the son of William and Susannah. His father was a Policeman and on the 1871 Census the family were living at Oldham, Lancashire.
They emigrated to Australia on the "Great Queensland" and arrived in Maryborough, Queensland on 9 October 1874.
He married Mary Elizabeth "Bessie" Whalan in Bathurst, new South Wales in 1901. They had four children, son James and daughter Maisie, but twins Mary and John died within hours of birth. His wife died in 1911.
At the time of enlistment he gave his occupation as Presbyterian Minister and his next of kin address as G Whalan, Lambert Street, Bathurst, New South Wales.
Wartime Service
He enlisted on 19 April 1914 as a Chaplain (4th Class) into the Chaplains' Corps. His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria on board HMAT A35 Berrima on 22 December 1914.
He went to the front with the 27th Battalion and in a letter home, when writing from France he said he had been transferred to another Battalion. (5th Infantry Brigade HQ). He also said he found the work strenuous after having been twice invalided to England for sickness. He hoped that when the war was over he would be able to forget a lot of the things he has seen on the battlefield.
He died from a gunshot wound to his left thigh and Brights Disease, at the 3rd London Hospital, Wandsworth, London, on 15 November 1917, aged 49.
Additional Information
Mr Glyndur Whalan of 195 Lambert Street, Cathurst, New South Wales, Australia, ordered his headstone inscription: "THANKS BE TO GOD WHICH GIVETH US THE VICTORY".
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
aif.adfa.edu.au, Virtual War Memorial Australia,
