William Charteris McNae was a letter carrier for the Commonwealth Postmaster General’s Queensland branch when he enlisted in October 1914. McNae enlisted with his friend Joseph Orr, both members of the Hill End Presbyterian Church and its soccer team. The pair were farewelled by the church in November 1914 and proceeded overseas to join the 15th Battalion.
McNae’s active service record was short. He arrived at Gallipoli in April 1915 and died on May 6, three days after Orr’s death. No other details of his service were given. On 18 June, Brisbane’s Daily Standard reported McNae, Orr and a third Hill End player, simply named Anderson had been killed in action, and that friends and teammates of the trio marched from Hill End Presbyterian Church to Park Presbyterian Church in South Brisbane for the memorial service. Park Church and its sub-church at Hill End were connected not only by religion but also soccer, with each having its own team, and by war.
According to the Standard on 12 July 1915, a total of 26 men and one woman had enlisted from the churches, of which McNae and Orr were among 6 killed, though Anderson was not listed. This suggests Anderson was a member of the Hill End soccer team but not the church. Alternatively, Anderson may have been mistakenly reported killed, which is possibly considering the only Anderson in the AIF killed before June 1915 was from Western Australia.