On 14 October 1915, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported,
Private W. J. Acres (wounded and in hospital, London) is the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. P. Acres, of Corrimal. He enlisted in March and went away in June with the 18th Battalion. For some time previous to enlisting, he was employed as a painter at the Naval College, Jervis Bay. He was a very prominent Soccer footballer, having several times represented New South Wales as outside right.* In 1912 he visited Queensland with the New South Wales representative team. He also played football for Corrimal and West Wallsend.
In August 1915, a few days after arriving at the Gallipoli Peninsula, Private “Billy” Acres received a gunshot wound to the lower jaw. After receiving treatment in England (where he was also diagnosed with nephritis) he embarked for his return to Australia on 24 June 1916. He died in Corrimal 18 months later on 18 January 1918 at the age of 29.
*WJ Acres debuted for NSW against Queensland in 1913 alongside Judy Masters and was the first player from the West Wallsend Club to represent the state. Records suggest that this was in fact his only game for NSW.