59th Battalion
Killed In Action
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William Sylvester O'Shea (SN 3866) was born in Ballarat where he enlisted on July 5th 1915. He was a 25 year old, unmarried salesman. He embarked in November from Melbourne on board the Ceramic to serve with the 59th Infantry Battalion. He was posted to France in June 1916 but soon after suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg and arm which resulted in his evacuation to England. He was promoted to Sergeant before rejoining his unit in July 1917. He was killed in the trenches in the Polygon Wood area on August 29th 1917. He has no known grave and his name is on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
