William John Towers, MM (25 March 1892 – 18 March 1962) was an Australian politician. He was born in Collingwood to labourer John Towers and Ellen Heath. He served in the Australian Imperial Force during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, seeing action at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

and in France, where he was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

. On 2 July 1919 he married May Josephine Cunneen, with whom he had two children. He joined the Labor Party in 1927 and was a member of Collingwood City Council from 1930 to 1931 and from 1937 to 1952, serving twice as mayor (1939–40, 1943–45). In 1947 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

for Collingwood. He transferred to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in 1958 and served until his death at

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

in 1962.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Towers, Bill 1892 births 1962 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Army soldiers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian military personnel of World War I Australian recipients of the Military Medal Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly People from Collingwood, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne Victoria (Australia) local councillors Mayors of places in Victoria (Australia)