William Punch

Early life

William Joseph Punch was born around 1880 in the Bland River area near Goulburn, New South Wales. William's family were First Nations people who were were killed with others by white settlers. It is reported that the colonial frontier massacre was in retaliation for taking a cow.

William's birth name and cultural identity were not recorded. It's unknown if William's family were Wiradjuri people, the Traditional Owners of the Country on which he was born.

William was taken in by John Siggs of Pejar Station, Woodhouselee, and his unmarried sister, Miss Siggs. William was raised with 7 Siggs children, the nieces and nephews of John Siggs. The story was shared at the time that William had come from North Queensland. This was likely to disguise his origins and the massacre of his family.

William attended the local school. He was also taught by a private governess with the Siggs and Gallagher children. William had music lessons in nearby Crookwell and was an accomplished musician on many instruments.

As an adult, William was well known and respected in his community.

William worked as a farm labourer for John Siggs at Pejar and later for C.E. (Charles Ernest) Prell of ‘Gundowringa’, Woodhouselee. He was an experienced horserider. He played cricket for Woodhouselee's local team and participated in athletics events, including high jump and running. He was asked to play music at many local events. And the ladies of the 1901 Crookwell Show voted him the best-dressed gentleman.

Along with childhood friends, Frederick Richard Siggs and brothers Herbert, Oswald and William Gallagher, William was a founding member of the Roslyn–Woodhouselee Rifle Club in 1906.

In the local community, William was generally known as and called himself 'Punch'. There are accounts that he was also called ‘Sigg's Punch'.

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Military service

William was 36 when he volunteered to join the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at Goulburn in December 1915. He gave William Joseph Punch as his full name and New South Wales as his place of birth. His next of kin was his best friend, Oswald Gallagher of Goulburn, the son of Selma Siggs.

In 1915, the AIF had restrictions on non-white and non-Europeans being accepted to join. It was unusual then that William was accepted into the AIF because his attestation papers clearly refer to him as ‘Aboriginal’.

After initial training at the local depot, William and other local recruits were sent to the Liverpool camp in Sydney. In June 1916, he was allotted to the 17th reinforcements for the 1st Infantry Battalion. He sailed with his unit for Egypt aboard HMAT Ceramic.

In Egypt, William trained at Kel-El-Kebir, then was sent to England before embarking for active service in France.

William joined the 1st Battalion at Ypres, Belgium, in early September 1916. He and the battalion were fighting on the front a few days later.

William was wounded at Ypres on 9 September 1916. The battalion was carrying out maintenance and repairs under enemy fire and he received a scalp wound from shrapnel. Evacuated and hospitalised, William recovered and rejoined his battalion at the end of September.

In November 1916, William and the battalion moved back to France, near Flers. Bitterly cold and in the trenches, William developed trench foot. He was sent to hospital and did not rejoin his battalion until April 1917.

On 6 April 1917, the battalion advanced from its trenches toward Diognes, France. William was shot in the right buttock and sent to hospital for treatment.

Illness and death

William's battle wound was treated, but he also developed pleurisy, a painful lung infection. He was sent to England for further medical care.

By July 1917, William had developed endocarditis, a serious heart inflammation, and pneumonia. He was transferred to the Mont Dore Military Hospital in Bournemouth, England.

William's condition worsened. Two days before he died, he dictated his will. William was too weak to sign his will, marking it with a cross although he could write well.

William died on 29 August 1917. The cause of his death is given as pneumonia and endocarditis.

William was buried with full military honours in the Bournemouth East Cemetery at Boscombe. The service included a firing party from the New Zealand Engineers, Christchurch. Wreaths were sent by his friends and staff from the Mont Dore Hospital. According to his records, William was 37 years old.

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Uncovering William's story

Historian and World War II veteran, Albert Speer MBE, researched William's life history. His articles were published in 1992 and 1993 in the Argyle Bulletin, the journal of the Goulburn and District Historical Society.

Speer was also born in Goulburn, and his family knew William well. William had once saved the life of William Speers’ father.

Speers had interviewed an older resident of Goulburn about William's life. She told him that John Siggs with others from Roslyn and Woodhouselee had taken cattle to the Bland region around Lake Cowal. This is where this group encountered William’s people.

Her account said that William's clan had been killed in a nighttime attack in retaliation for killing a cow. John Siggs reportedly slept through the late-night raid but rode over in the morning and found the infant survivor. William was named by the Siggs family.

There were clearly strong connections between William, the Siggs family and their relatives in the Gallagher and Lynch families. William Gallagher, John Siggs and William Punch were good friends. There are accounts of them playing in a musical group together. Oswald Gallagher was named as William’s next of kin. Oswald Gallagher and Eliza-Jane Lynch were named as beneficiaries of William’s will.

William was well educated, cared for and valued by those he knew and his local community. Yet as a First Nations man, he was treated differently.

The Sydney Morning Herald of 15 March 1916 wrote:

GOULBURN, Tuesday. A total of 220 men from the local camp left for Liverpool this morning, prior to embarking for the front shortly. Amongst the contingent was an aboriginal man Punch, who is regarded by the troops as a mascot.

The Goulburn Evening Penny Post of 5 October 1916 wrote:

5th October 1916. “PUNCH” WOUNDED. Mr. O. Gallagher, of Bourke Street, Goulburn, on Wednesday received a telegram from Base Records stating that Private Wm. J. Punch had been wounded. Private Punch is an aboriginal, and was better known as “Siggs’s Punch,” he having been reared by the late Miss Siggs and the late Mr. John Siggs, of Pejar. Mrs. Gallagher (mother of Mr. O. Gallagher) is a sister of the late Mr. Siggs, and Mr. Gallagher was a great friend of “Punch.” “Punch” was trained in the Goulburn Camp, and was a favourite. He was looked upon as a mascot. He was very adaptable, and was a good rifle shot. He was with the Australian forces in France.

William’s death was reported in the Goulburn Evening Penny Post on 11 September 1917:

DEATH OF PRIVATE W. J. PUNCH.

The Rev. Canon Carver received official information on Monday that Pte. Wm. Joseph Punch, 1st (late 53rd) Battalion, died on August 29, 1917. The intelligence was conveyed to his best friend, Mr. Oscar P. Gallagher, of Bourke-street. Pte. Punch, who was an Australian aboriginal, was brought from North Queensland by the late Mr. John Siggs, Pejar, about 25 years ago … Punch was a great favourite everywhere, and his comrades in the army called him their "mascot." He was an athlete, and notwithstanding his complexion he was one of the "whitest" men in the district … He was wounded twice before the illness which ended his life. The nature of the illness is not yet known.

Some 1,200 First Nations men are known to have volunteered to serve in World War I. Reveille magazine in January 1931 published a list of men from New South Wales who had served in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). There were 18 men who had been killed or died in the war, 31 who had been wounded or gassed and 56 others who had taken part.

James Merritt was another local First Nations man from Goulburn who volunteered for the AIF in December 1915. James had been raised by his own family. Douglas Grant, another member of the AIF, was a massacre survivor raised in by a white family.

Commemoration

William’s name appears on the Crookwell War Memorial in New South Wales. His name is also recorded on panel 30 of the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial.

William's story was told in a Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial on 3 December 2014.

With growing recognition of the military service of First Nations Australians in Australian history, William’s story has been told more widely. In 2015, the Lieder Theatre Company in Goulburn performed William Punch: A Goulburn War Story.

William is memorialised on a plaque at Mulwaree High School School in Goulburn. The Rocky Hill War Memorial Museum at Goulburn has a display and information on William Punch and other First Nations Australians from the region who served in World War I.

First Nations Australian artist, Vincent Namatjira, painted William’s portrait, shown in 2018 at the Weapons for the Soldier exhibition. The exhibition included portraits of 5 other lesser known soldiers. Of the portrait, Namatjira said:

Despite the huge sacrifices these men made, their stories remain hidden, camouflaged in history … I was trying to understand the mindset of the Indigenous men who volunteered, neglected and mistreated in their own country, but still willing to fight and die to protect Australia.

William's life and story is important for First Nations Australians today.

When senior artists of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia visited the Australian War Memorial in 2017, hearing the story of William Punch made ‘the old men cry’. Artist Witjiti George said that ‘if he was the last one from his mob that survived, that’s special. It means he’s a Ngangkari [powerful spirit]’.

[William Punch, Australian War Memorial]

A photograph of William left at his grave in Bournemouth had the dedication:

Our beloved William Punch Siggs, ‘Nangkari’

(Nangkari is a term used in the past to describe a bush doctor or traditional healer.)