Before William Chauvin enlisted, he was a carter and lived on Cave Hill Rd Lilydale.

William enlisted on July 21, 1915, when he was only 23 years old, in the 1st Depot Battalion in Seymour.

He was then appointed to the 7th Reinforcements, 24th Battalion in Seymour. He embarked from Melbourne on November 20, 1915 on HMAT Commonwealth (A73).

He was transferred to the 8th Battalion at Zeitoun, proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Force at Alexandria and sailed to Marseilles on the SS Megantic.

He was wounded on July 25, 1916 and reported wounded and missing on October 4, 1916.

His death was witnessed by Private GL Clark and GH Allen.

They were under enfilade artillery fire, in a trench, 400 yards from the Germans, when a shell landed in the trench, he was killed instantly.

He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.