Before they both enlisted in 1915 William Lewis played for Adamstown with his younger brother Oswald.
In March 1917, Mrs Ethel Lewis received a letter from the AIF informing that her son Private William Lewis had been admitted to hospital suffering a mild case of broncho-pneumonia. Private Lewis rejoined his unit on 5 April 1917. He never recovered from his ailment. On 24 April 1917 he was admitted to the Isolation Hospital in Salisbury, England.
He died 6 days later. He was 23 years of age. A week after William’s death, his younger brother Oswald departed England for his return to Australia on a hospital ship. Both his legs had been amputated due to trench feet.