At the annual meeting of the Adamstown Rosebud Football Club in February 1919 it was mentioned that 56 of their members had enlisted for service. William Weimer was one of them. On 15 February 1916, the Newcastle Morning Herald reported “PRESENTATION TO A SOLDIER. Private W. Weimer, of Adamstown, was tendered a send-off at the Great Britain Hotel, Newcastle, on Saturday night by his mates in the Public Works Department employed in the new wharf at Carrington. The chairman, in presenting Private Weimer with a gold medal and silver matchbox, said they were sorry to lose him as a mate, but was pleased that, with his brother, he had volunteered to assist other Australians and the Allies.”
When Private Weimer returned from the war he was also in possession of the Belgian Croix de Guerre for his conspicuous service in the field and had been promoted to the rank of Company Sergeant Major. He was wounded three times. The last time severely on 10 August 1918 when a gunshot fractured his humerus. William Weimer died on New Year’s Day in 1964, aged 73. His brother James Weimer, another Adamstown footballer, also returned from the war.
