Dunn: William John
Born in Adelaide on 5th March 1891, William’s parents were Samuel and Ellen Dunn.
He married Alice Jane Dowling at Thebarton on 27th November 1915 and they had a child before he enlisted.
A Porter in the South Australian Railways, William enlisted on 26th August 1918. He stood 5’10” (178cm) tall, weighed 175lbs (79kg), and had blue eyes and light-brown hair. His religion was stated as Church of England.
William was drafted into a special Railway Unit that departed from Melbourne for overseas service on 5th October 1918. The Unit arrived in England in December after hostilities had ceased.
In early February 1919, William was admitted to the New End Military Hospital with Influenza* and passed away there on the 19th. Buried in the Brookwood Military Cemetery, Pirbright, Surrey, England, William Dunn is listed on Blackwood War Memorial.
* Note: The worldwide Influenza Epidemic ran from late-1918 to mid-1920 and claimed an estimated 20 million lives.
Research by Geoff Lock, 2015
