William Henry Strahan

William Henry Strahan
Bill Strahan in Egypt 1915
Nickname(s)	Bill, Will
Born	21 September 1869 Toodyay, Western Australia, Australia
Died	25 April 1915(1915-04-25) (aged 45) Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	First Australian Imperial Force
Years of service	1914–1915
Rank	Sergeant
Unit	16th Battalion
Battles/wars	World War I Battle of Gallipoli
Awards	1914–15 Star (posthumous) British War Medal (posthumous) Victory Medal (posthumous)

World War I

William (Bill, Will) Henry Strahan (21 September 1869 – 25 April 1915) was a member of the Toodyay Road Board who served with the 16th Battalion of AIF. He was killed in action on 25 April 1915 (the first day of the Gallipoli Campaign). Prior to enlisting with AIF Strahan was a volunteer member of the Australian Light Horse and Guildford Rifles where he held the rank of sergeant major.

Strahan wrote The Bugle Call, which was published several times after his death. The verses were sent to King George V, prompting the response from the palace that Strahan had "acted up ... to the spirit of his utterances".

Strahan was born on 21 September 1869, the son of James Strahan (1837–1918) and Susannah née Straghan (1841–1900), and grew up on the 100-acre (40 ha) farm and 25-acre (10 ha) family orchard in Toodyay. In 1895 he purchased the orchard from his father. Strahan married Ruth Ellen Monger (1872–1936) (the cousin of John Henry Monger) at St Stephen's Anglican Church, Toodyay on 25 April 1894. They had ten children: Olive Myrtle (1895), Herbert Elwell (1896), William (Jim) James (1898), Ruth Eileen (1900), Eric Forrest (1902), Gordon Phillip (1904), Byron Henry (1907), Margaret Esther (1909), Stephen Monger (1911) and Kelvin John (1913).

Strahan served on the Toodyay Road Board and was a member of the Deepdale Fruitgrowers Association. Strahan was noted for arguing his position to his own benefit but he would concede when there was benefit to the wider community. It was this character which not only made Strahan well respected in the community but also saw him become one of the first people to enlist for the First World War.

Strahan's son, Herbert Elwell (1896–1987), also fought in France with the 39th Battalion, First Australian Imperial Force in World War I.

Around 1900 Strahan joined the Guildford Rifles and later the Australian Light Horse, where he rose to the rank of sergeant major. At the outbreak of World War I he resigned to enlist in the Australian Army. He was the 199th person to enlist in the Australian Imperial Forces. He joined the 16th Battalion "A" company on 14 September 1914 and on 1 October 1914 was promoted to sergeant. The initial training period of two months took place at Blackboy Hill in Western Australia. The army then decided that the 4th Brigade, which was made up of the 11th and 16th Battalions, was to assemble at Broadmeadows, in Victoria, to complete its organisation and training before embarkation overseas. In November, therefore, all ranks were given leave and Strahan went back to Toodyay to visit family and friends. While there he was given an official send off by the Toodyay Road Board. On 21 November 1914, the battalion entrained for Fremantle and embarked in two parties on SS Indarra and Dimboola, which arrived at Port Melbourne about a week later. Each party was then transported to Broadmeadows. On 22 December 1914 Strahan, along with the 16th Battalion, embarked on Troopship A40 Ceramic for Albany, Western Australia. They reached Albany on 28 December. No shore leave was granted. At 8am on 31 December the Ceramic sailed from King George Sound in the second convoy of troops to leave Albany and arrived a month later in Egypt. After further training in Egypt the 16th Battalion was part of the initial landings at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Strahan was shot by a sniper and killed on that first day. He is memorialised at Lone Pine Cemetery at Gallipoli.