Samuel Wills (1892-1967)

No.1752  Samuel Wills 

[Listed on RSL Honor Board as Wills, A.  but correct initials are Wills, S.].

Samuel Wills enlisted in the AIF on 26 May 1915 in Melbourne. His enlistment papers described him as 5 feet 6 ¾ inches in height, 11 stone in weight with a medium complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. His religion was Baptist.

Along with other soldiers in the 24th Battalion, Samuel embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A64 Demosthenes on 16 July 1915.

On 5 August 1916, while serving in France, he suffered a gunshot wound to his left shoulder and hand.  After initial treatment in France, Samuel was transferred to England and, on 10 August, admitted to Beaufort War Hospital.  Two months later, on 25 August, he was transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford for further treatment and convalescence.

On 13 February 1917, Private Wills left England for Australia aboard the Troopship, Benalla.  He arrived in Melbourne on 10 April and discharged, medically unfit, on 20 May 1917.  His disability was described as "shrapnel left shoulder, claw hand and paralysis".

Samuel Wills was granted a war pension of 3 pound per fortnight – effective as of 22 May 1917.

Medals and Entitlements:

1914/15 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal

A.I.F. Project - www.aif.adfa.edu.au

Ancestry.com

Australian War Memorial – awm.gov.au