William Ernest PETERSON

Year of Birth:  1899

Place of Birth:  Lappa Junction, via Cairns, Qld

Date of Enlistment:  10 February 1916

Date and Place of Embarkation:  13 March 1916 Sydney

Ship:  HMAT “Demosthenes”

Rank:  Private

Unit(s):  11th Infantry Brigade, 41st Infantry Battalion

Regimental Number:  262

Died:  11 July 1917

William Ernest Peterson was born 28 August 1899 to Laura Peterson.  No father was named.  Laura Peterson married Herbert O’Shea in 1901 and had a son Benjamin Arthur in 1903.  Laura died in 1906.

In 1913, Herbert O’Shea was a miner at Koorboora west of Mareeba.  William named his brother Arthur Peterson next of kin when he enlisted so it appears they
may have been living with their mother’s Peterson family near Edmonton after her death.  It also appears that William raised his age, as he was only 16 ½ when he enlisted.  He was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 103 lbs and had a fair complexion, blue eyes and red hair.  He was Roman Catholic.

He embarked from Sydney on 18 May 1916 on the HMAT “Demosthenes” and disembarked Plymouth England on 20 July.