Ancestor Details
Ancestor's Name: William Walter Beecher
Ancestor's date of birth: 18/10/1881
Ancestor's date of death: 01/04/1938
Cause of Death: at home unsure of cause.
Service Number: 933
Colony or State of enlistment: VIC, Place of Enlistment: Gippsland
Unit: Victorian 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles.
Rank attained in Boer War: PTE, Date Effective: On Enlistment
Highest Rank attained (if served after war): No evidence of post Boer War service
Murray Page: 286
Contingent: Fifth Victorian
Ship: Orient, Argus, or City of Lincoln, Date of Sailing: 15/02/1901
Memorial details: Buried at Warringal Cemetery Heidelburg: Wesleyan Area; Row: M Grave:30
Awards/Decorations: Queen's South Africa Medal with Transvaal, SA 1901 and SA 1902 clasps.
Personal Characteristics: Detail not provided
Reasons to go and fight: Detail not provided
Details of service in war: March 1901 - March 1902 in east Transvaal and Natal frontier, including defeat at Wilmansrust where 18 killed and 42 wounded (12 June 1901), and successful intervention at Onverwacht (4 January 1902); heaviest casualties of any Australian contingent, at Wilmansrust suffered the costliest defeat.
Service and life after the Boer War: Returned to Australia 25 April 1902 on the St Andrew. No further details provided.
Descendant Details
Name of Descendant: Debbie Drought-McGregor, QLD
Relationship to Ancestor: great granddaughter
