Veteran Notes/Bio
- Listed Bungendore War Memorial Hall WW 1 ROH (1917) and Bygone Queanbeyan as "McKay Sgt.Major.KIA(B)".See Item 8 below.
- “MAPPING ANZACS”: Service Number:785;POB: Hoskingtown :POE: Holdsworthy,NSW ;NOK: NAA file records Marital Status on Enlistemnert 14 .01.1915 as Single and NOK as Father John McKay living at Gidleigh.Document subsequently amended to record NOK as Wife:Mrs Maude Margaret McKay, Hope Farm, Koorawatha, New South Wales .NOK subsequently rematrries as HMM Lamont of Toongabbie.See paras 6 and 9 below.
- AWM Embarkation Roll: Rank:Private ;Unit: 7 LHR [Light Horse Regiment] - 1 to 10 Reinforcements (December 1914 - October 1915) ; Age:26 ; Occupation: Commercial Traveller ;DOE:15.10.1914 ; Embarked:8.02.1915.Sydney.HMAT Hymettus.A1.
- AWM Nominal Roll: Rank:Private ;Unit:7 Light Horse ;DOE:14.01.1915 .DOD aged 28.(Field Service Report on NAA file documents cause of death as "Died of Illness" and his rank as "Trooper" .16.08.1915. Buried East Mudros Military Cemetery (Plot II, Row F, Grave No. 97), Greece. Entry also recorded in Memorial Register No. 6, Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli.
- See : OUR SOLDIERS BUNGENDORE & THE GREAT WAR. Glenda Ellis .2007.ISBN:978-1-74027-487-6 .
- One of the 14 "Gidleigh" Diggers.See entries for HF and TLF Rutledge below.Brother of Joseph Lewis above.William James and (Harriet Maud) Margaret McKay of Bungendore were married on 23 January 1915, just after he enlisted for service in World War
- www.canberrahistory.org.au:
- 'McKay came from Gidleigh station just south of Bungendore. He served with the 7th Light Horse Regiment on Gallipoli but died from dysentery on the the ship 'Valdivia' off the coast of Gallipoli on 16 August 1915. He is buried in East Mudros Military Cemetery on the island of Lemnos. His brother, Joseph McKay, was killed in action on 7 August 1915 on Gallipoli. ' There is a Wedding Group photograph dated 23 January 1915 on the site.
- AWM ROH pdf file notes that William James had previously served in the 11 Australian Light Horse and had risen to the rank of Sgt Major. Glenda Ellis ( See 5 above) discusses this rank issue.
- Bygone Queanbeyan also lists a "McKay W. Joseph KIA Dardanelles 1915(B)".The AWM Nominal Roll only lists one William Joseph # 3207 who was a Farmer from Victoria whom RTA. He is not considered to be the "W.J." on the Bungendore Memorial. Probably a duplication of " William James".
- AIF Project:Attended Bungendore Public School, Marital status Single. Age at embarkation 26.Enlistment date 15 October 1914.Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll 14 January 1915.Miscellaneous information from cemetery records Son of John and Mary Ann McKay. Husband of H.M.M. Lamont (formerly McKay) of 'Dunwandrin', Old Windsor Road, Toongabbie, New South Wales.Family/military connections Brother: Pte J McKAY, killed in action 7 August 1915.
- Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau files ,1914-1918 War 1DRL/0428 provides reports of death. www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1046905.
- Commemorated on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour Panel 5.
- Application to use Rising Sun Badge:On 03 November 2015 the Bungendore War Memorial Committee applied to Army Branding to use the Rising Sun badge on a proposed street sign for "W.J. McKay" in the town of Bungendore as part of the Centenary of ANZAC Commemorations. This request was approved on 21 December 2015.
- Palerang Council gave notice in the Bungendore Mirror 01 July 2015 that it intended to use the road name of McKay Drive in Lot 23 DP 61583 4- 33 Trucking Yard Lane Bungendore (DA 2011.338) .Origin of the name cited as being commemorated on the Bungendore Memorial Roll of Honour.
- "McKay Drive" as proposed at para 8 above has been implemented by Palerang Council. This Drive is named after both William James and Joseph Lewis MacKay.
- Last updated January 2017