Local Heroes WW1

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Last Updated: Friday, 05 June 2015 13:59

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(Gnr) William Lawrence CARR

Gunner William Lawrence Carr 8426, an Assistant miller from Leadenhall Street, Port Adelaide, South Australia prior to enlistment on 21nd June 1915 and embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, with his unit 6th Field Artillery Brigade, on board HMAT A34 Persic on 22 November 1915.

Honours

Gunner William Lawrence Carr was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal Trio which were sent to his Mother Mrs Margaret Carr by Base Records Melbourne in about 1920.

The 1914-15 Star rewarded operational service within a theatre of war between the commencement of hostilities on 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915. Almost 2.3 million Stars were awarded throughout the Commonwealth, of which 82,000 were awarded to Australians serving in an Australian unit.

The British War Medal 1914-1920 was awarded to members of British and Imperial forces for service between the outbreak of hostilities on 5 August 1914 and the Armistice on 11 November 1918, although eligibility was extended to include service in various theatres up to 1920. There were 338,000 medals in silver awarded to Australians.

The Victory Medal 1914-1919 was awarded to members of British and Imperial forces for operational service only, between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918, although eligibility was extended to include service in various theatres during 1919. There were 336,000 medals in silver awarded to Australians.

1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal Trio

Overseas Commemoration

At Hooge on the Menin Road today the traffic passes at speed down towards Ieper and the visible spire of St Martin’s and the belfry of the Lakenhalle. But there is one carefully tended reminder of the devastated battlefield that lay all around here in 1917 – the Hooge Crater. The crater, caused by a British mine in 1916, in symbolic form lies at the entrance to Hooge Crater Cemetery with its nearly 6,000 war graves. All that remains of that great wound in the earth is a circle of sunken lawn in the middle of which is the Stone of Remembrance with its sombre message – ‘Their Name Liveth For Evermore’. Many Australians lie here, most of them, as their headstones reveal, casualties of the fighting in September 1917 when the  divisions of the AIF were heavily involved in battles hereabouts which formed part of the British ‘Flanders offensive’. One date on a number of Australian headstones is 20 September 1917, the day of the Battle of the Menin Road.

Gunner William Lawrence Carr is Commemorated in Hooge Crater Cemetery (Plot VII, Row A, Grave No. 4), Belgium

National Commemoration

Australian War Memorial Canberra - At the heart of the Memorial building is the Roll of Honour: a long series of bronze panels recording the names of over 102,000 members of the Australian armed forces who have died during or as a result of war service, warlike service, non-warlike service and certain peacetime operations.

Location on the Roll of Honour - Gunner William Lawrence Carr's name is located at panel 14 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial (as indicated by the poppy on the plan).

State Commemoration

South Australia National War Memorial on North Terrace "TO THOSE WHO NOBLY STRIVING NOBLY FELL THAT WE MIGHT LIVE"

Gunner William Lawrence Carr’s name is commemorated on the large honour rolls lining the walls of the crypt inside the South Australia National War Memorial on North Terrace, which was unveiled by the State Governor on Anzac Day 1931. Inside the crypt, bronze panels contain the names of the 5,511 South Australians who fell in the war.

Local Commemoration

The Semaphore War Memorial was dedicated in 1925 to honour all of those from the district who fought in the war, such as Gunner William Lawrence Carr.

The Semaphore War Memorial on the Esplanade was dedicated in 1925 to honour all of those from the district who fought in the war. A temporary ‘Memorial Arch’ of wood and iron was first erected at the entrance to the Semaphore Jetty bearing the banner title, ‘For King & Empire’. On 27 April 1924, four foundation stones for the new memorial were laid at the approach to the jetty – one on behalf of the citizens of Port Adelaide district, one for the RSSILA, one on behalf of the parents of the fallen men, and one on behalf of the widows and orphans.

No doubt Gunner Gunner William Lawrence Carr Mother & Father Margaret & George Carr would have attended the laying of these foundation stones in 1924 – with its immediate relevance to her. The stone for the parents of those who fell, such as Gunner William Lawrence Carr was laid by Mrs Magnus Wald. The late Magnus Wald had been owner of Glanville Hall, proprietor of the South Australian Stevedoring Company and member for Scarborough Ward 1898-00.

This foundation stone for the Semaphore War Memorial was laid at the approach to the jetty on 27 April 1924 by Mrs Magnus Wald on behalf the parents of those who fell. For Margaret & George Carr, this memorial honoured thier son  William who was Killed in Action 26 September 1917.

They were also most likely among the several thousand people who attended the actual unveiling of the Semaphore War Memorial the following year.

The following year, a granite obelisk was erected on the foundation stones, with an electric ‘turret type’ clock and topped by a marble Angel of Peace with wings outspread. The local newspaper noted, “all the names of those who enlisted from the district or who made the supreme sacrifice cannot be placed on the monument” so it instead bears a simple commemorative plaque.

Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL

For the 2015 commemoration of the Anzac Centenary, the Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL has created a virtual Honour Board listing the names of over 2,000 local men who volunteered to serve in World War 1. Among them are counted Gunner William Lawrence Carr from Port Adelaide who served in the AIF 6th Field Artillery Brigade, Battery 18 in France and Belgium.

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