William Tope was born c.1893 in Camberwell, Victoria. He was the son of William Charles Tope and his wife, Alexandra Mary, nee Taylor. The family moved to East Melbourne in 1909 when William snr bought the house at 110 Vale Street. When he enlisted at Brighton, Tasmania, on 22 August 1914 William gave his occupation as bank clerk and stated that he had served for seven years with the Senior Cadets. He gave his father as his next of kin citing the East Melbourne address. He was appointed to ‘B’ Company, 12th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade and was sent for training to the Brighton camp.
He embarked from Hobart on 20 October 1914, aboard HMAT Geelong. On 2 March he embarked from Alexandria to join the forces at Gallipoli. The Australian War Memorial history of his unit states:
The 3rd Brigade was the covering force for the ANZAC landing on 25 April 1915 and so was the first ashore at around 4:30 am. Lieutenant Colonel L. F. Clarke, commander of the 12th Battalion, was killed by a sniper within hours of the landing. The battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the front line of the Anzac position, and in August contributed two companies to the attack on Lone Pine. It was the only battalion in the brigade to do so. The 12th served at Anzac until the evacuation in December.
William was one of those who fought at the Battle of Lone Pine, 6-9 August 1915. He ‘recalled one Turkish counter-attack where bodies saved his life:
I thought the best thing would be for me to be down in this trench that had no men in it at all, where the bodies were, because I felt that the counter-attack could come at any time. I’d hardly got into position before an absolute avalanche of bombs fell, puncturing these bodies, and up on top you’d hear the air coming out of the ones up there. I think they were aiming for the bodies that they could see. I was sheltering behind them, and I was there for all that day and the next night, then suddenly it all stopped, just like that…
He was promoted to Corporal on 1 July 1915. After the evacuation his unit returned to Egypt. He was in hospital sick in Serapeum 24 January 1916 with a dental problem, and rejoined his until 14 February 1916. He was promoted to Lance Sergeant on 26 February 1916. On 1 March 1916 he was transferred to the newly created 52nd Battalion and was sent to School for instruction for three weeks. He was promoted to Sergeant on 13 March. On 11 May 1916 he was admitted to hospital again, this time with VD. He was there for three weeks. On 5 June he proceeded with his unit to France. He was promoted 2/Lieutenant on 26 August 1916. About a month later, while attending the school of Instruction at Mont des Cats, he began to suffer from pain and vomiting and loss of weight, and was diagnosed with a gastric ulcer, attributed to improper diet, strain and exposure. He became seriously ill and was evacuated to England 19 October 1916. The problem was on going with the opinion that his incapacity was total and he was sent home to Hobart, and thence to Melbourne where he was admitted to No. 11 Australian General Hospital, Caulfield, on 25 April 1917. His appointment was terminated on 27 July 1917 after he signed a form stating that he would take responsibility for his future medical treatment. He initially received a pension of £4 per fortnight which was later reduced to £2.
Initially he returned to the family home in East Melbourne. In 1942 he wrote to Base Records seeking a copy of his service record. He gave as his address, c/o Bank of New South Wales, Toorak. He retired from this bank in 1954. He wrote another letter in 1967 requesting that an Anzac Medal be sent to him at 1916 Malvern Road, East Malvern.
He married Gladys Irene Heath on 21 April 1923 and had a son the following year. He died at Malvern on 30 July 1987. His name with photograph appears on the Honour Roll of the Bank of New South Wales.
William’s parents continued to live at 110 Vale Street, East Melbourne until their deaths: his father’s in 1921 and his mother’s in 1950.
