Military History

Enlisted with 6 Platoon, C Company 11th Battalion 3rd Brigade Aust Infantry Forces.
Embarked Fremantle per HMAT ‘Ascanius’ A11 for Egypt 2.11.1914.
Roll Rank Private.
Roll Unit 3rd Brigade, 11th Infantry Battalion, ‘C’ Company, AIF.
Roach disembarked in Egypt with the 11th Bn. The 11th Bn. undertook four months of intensive training before they embarked for Alexandria. In Alexandria they joined the MEF and embarked per HMT ‘Suffolk’ for Lemnos 2.3.1915. On the 24.4.1915, the 11th Bn. sailed from Lemnos for the dawn landing at Gallipoli. Roach was reported missing in action 25.4.1915 at Gallipoli. A bugler with the 11th Bn was the last person to see him alive. (AWM Red Cross Files). He was later determined KIA 25.4.1915 by the Board of Inquiry held 17.6.1916. His body was not recovered. Roach is commemorated at Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Cannakkale Province, Turkey.
Final Rank Private 11th Bn AIF.
Medical Condition Deceased, KIA.
Awards and Medals 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Notes. Roach was an outstanding sportsman and very popular in the Guildford community. His parents moved to 4th Avenue, Bassendean, WA. His family erected a rose arch to his memory in the St. Matthew’s acre, at the southern entry to the church grounds in Stirling Square (no longer extant).
Photos  Wallie Passmore Roach. Photograph source Sunday Times 2.1.1916
              Wallie Passmore Roach. Photographs ourced and reproduced with permission of G & S Worth
              HMAT 'Ascanius' 1914. Photographer E.L. Mitchell, photograph source AWM H16157
              Landing at Gallipoli on the morning of 25.4.1915. Photographer A. Joyner, photograph source AWM P00035.001
             Lone Pine Memorial Gallipoli 1936. Photograph donor J.Richter, photograph source AWM P02768.007

Information Source
AWM H16157. HMAT 'Ascanius' 1914. Photographer E.L. Mitchell, photograph sourced from the Pictorial Collection of the Australian War Memorial
AWM P00035.001. Landing at Gallipoli on the morning of 25.4.1915. Photographer A. Joyner, photograph sourced from the Pictorial Collection of the Australian War Memorial
AWM P02768.007. Lone Pine Memorial Gallipoli 1936. Photograph donor J.Richter, photograph sourced from the Pictorial Collection of the Australian War Memorial
AWM Embarkation Roll Wallie Passmore Roach
AWM Roll of Honour- Wallie Passmore Roach
AWM Red Cross File Wallie Passmore Roach
Guildford War Memorial
Guildford Primary School Honour Roll
Guildford Volunteer Fire Brigade Honour Roll
NAA: B2455, Roach Wallie Passmore
St Matthew’s Honour Roll
St Matthew’s Fallen
Sunday Times
Wise H. and Coy. Western Australian Post Office Directories. SLWA

24 Johnson Street, Guildford, WA.


 

Associated Images