ABIGAIL William Henry
soldier and welfare worker 1923-

Born in Sydney, Bill Abigail was educated at Bourke Street School, then Sydney Boys High School, and in 1938 joined a shipping company until called up in for military service in 1941. He served in armoured units and later Movement Control until his demobilisation in 1946.

He rejoined the shipping and transport industry in various firms until 1952, when he joined the Australian Regular Army. Allotted to RAASC, he served in a variety of units – 1 Psych Unit; HQ N Comd Tps RAASC Annerley; 11 NS Trg Bn Wacol and 1 Coy RAASC as a platoon sergeant; the Australian Staff College Queenscliff as transport supervisor; and 8 Coy RAASC Port Lincoln as CSM.

Then came appointment as RSM of the RAASC Centre in 1964, followed by a tour of duty with AATTV in Vietnam. After postings to the Australian Staff College and RMC Duntroon he became RSM of the Army Ship's Staff on HMAS Sydney from 1970 when it ferried units between Australia and Vung Tau.

Bill was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1972 with 1 Air Cav Flight Sydney, then the staff of the Army Recruiting Office Sydney until he retired from the Army in 1974. He then built a house on Lake Macquarie near Newcastle, working with Armaguard on payroll trucks for the next 10 years, finally moving to retirement on the Gold Coast.

In retirement he has been closely associated with the AATTV Association and mans their office at Victoria Barracks Brisbane. With the Association he helped establish an AATV Memorial at Canungra in 1996, and then planting of trees to form the memorial grove.

He married Catherine in 1946: they had two children Peter and Suzanne. Peter carried on the military tradition and rose to be Deputy Chief of Army. Cath died in 1988 and five years later he married Edith, widow of a pilot who had been killed in the Viscount crash at Winton.