Billy Sing
(1886 - 1943)
William Edward (Billy) Sing was born in Clermont, and worked as a bush stockman prior to enlisting in the 5th Light Horse in October 1914.
As a sniper at Gallipoli, Sing was officially attributed 201 kills, and unofficially over 300, although he only claimed 109, and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for ‘Conspicuous gallantry’. In France, he fought with 1 ANZAC and was Mentioned in Dispatches for Gallantry and awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre. A recommendation for the Military Medal was not awarded.
Proserpine received Sing with a civic welcome in 1918; however, he died in Brisbane in 1943 with only five shillings in his pocket.
William Edward (Billy) Sing出生于Clermont，曾担任丛林畜牧员，在 1914 年 10 月加入第五轻骑部队。
作为加里波利的一名狙击手，Sing 被官方记录为 201 次击杀，非正式数字超过 300 次，尽管他自己只声称击杀了 109 次，并因“显著英勇”而获得了杰出功勋勋章 (DCM)。在法国，他参与澳新军团 作战，并因英勇受通报表扬并授予比利时十字勋章。授予军事勋章的推荐沒有被接纳。
1918 年，Sing受到Proserpine市民的隆重欢迎。然而，他于 1943 年在布里斯班去世时，口袋里只有 5 先令。
Known as The Assassin of Gallipoli, The Gallipoli Sniper, The Anzac Sniper, Turkhammer, and The Murderer, among other titles, Private William Edward (Billy) Sing was born in Clermont on 2 March 1886. His father, John Sing was a Chinese settler from Shanghai, China, and his mother Mary Ann (nee Pugh) was an English nurse from Staffordshire.
被称为加里波利刺客、加里波利狙击手、澳新军团狙击手、土耳其铁锤和杀人凶手等头衔的二等兵William Edward (Billy) Sing于 1886 年 3 月 2 日在Clermont出生。他的父亲John Sing是一名来自上海的中国移民，他的母亲 Mary Ann (原性Pugh) 是来自Staffordshire的英国护士。
Billy Sing grew up on the Sing family farm with his sister Beatrice Sing and half-sister Mary Ann Elizabeth Pugh. Sing worked as a bush stockman, becoming a skilled horseman and crack shot, prior to enlisting as a Trooper in the 5th Light Horse at Bowen on 24 October 1914.
Sing was shipped to Egypt in December 1914, and embarked to Gallipoli in May 1915, where he spent time receiving basic trench warfare training in an infantry unit. In mid-June, Sing's regiment was regrouped and positioned at Chatham's Post on the seaward side of Bolton's Ridge. At Chatham's Post, legends of Billy Sing's marksmanship began to emerge on both sides of the front line, and in Europe and the US.
With both Turkish and Anzac forces dug-in to a stand-still, the Gallipoli terrain proved well-suited to sniper warfare. Sing's fame and effectiveness at removing numerous Turkish snipers from the field of battle saw him become the darling of his comrades. As a result, The Turks deployed their best, German trained sniper, 'Abdul the Terrible', solely to eliminate Sing.
To succeed, a sniper requires not only elite marksmanship, but also outstanding field craft, a curious mind and extreme patience. The sniper works with an observer, who uses a spotting telescope to gain information on the enemy for the sniper. In late-August 1915, Sing's spotter, Trooper Tom Sheehan, was hit through the telescope, with the bullet embedding in Sing's right shoulder. It is possible that this bullet was fired by 'Abdul the Terrible'. Sheehan's replacement was Ion (Jack) Idriess, later to become one of Australia's highest published authors.
Sing and Abdul stalked each other for a long time, before each believed they had located the other. After waiting hours, Sing’s observer spotted Abdul. Sing took aim, realising he was looking directly down a rifle barrel into the face of Abdul. As Abdul squeezed the trigger of his rifle, a bullet from Sing’s Lee-Enfield was already on the way and travelled over the barrel of Abdul’s rifle and hit him straight between the eyes. Sing's position received a heavy artillery barrage, but he managed to escape.
In December 1915, Sing received high praise from the Army Corps Commander for 'accounting for 201 casualties to the enemy'. In January 1916, Sing received the Distinguished Conduct Medal for 'Conspicuous gallantry from May to September 1915, at Anzac, as a sniper'.
After the Gallipoli withdrawal, Sing joined the 31st Battalion on the Western Front. He suffered several periods of illness, recuperating in Britain. He met and married a waitress named Elizabeth Stewart in Edinburgh on 29 June 1917. Sing was wounded twice in France, and went AWOL once.
He received a Mention in Dispatches for Gallantry, from the Commander of 1 ANZAC Corps, General Birdwood, and was recommended unsuccessfully for a Military Medal, but received the Belgian Croix de Guerre, for his initiative in leading a counter-sniper operation in the Battle of Polygon Wood.
In late-1918, Sing returned to a civic welcome in Proserpine, without his wife Elizabeth. He took out a Soldier Settlement farm. The venture failed, as did a mining claim on the Miclere goldfield near Clermont. In 1942, he moved to Brisbane to be near his sister Beatrice, and died from heart failure, alone in a boarding house in May 1943. Sing had five shillings in his pocket.
Billy Sing 与他的妹妹 Beatrice Sing 和同母异父的妹妹 Mary Ann Elizabeth Pugh 在家族农场长大。曾担任丛林，在 1914 年 10 月 24 日在Bowen加入第 5 轻骑兵中作为一名骑兵，入伍前Sing曾是一名丛林畜牧员，是熟练的骑手和神枪手。
Sing于 1914 年 12 月被送往埃及，并于 1915 年 5 月启程前往加里波利，在那里他花了一些时间在步兵部队接受基本的堑壕战训练。 6 月中旬，Sing的兵团重新集结并驻扎在Bolton's Ridge向海一侧的Chatham's Post。在Chatham's Post，Billy Sing的枪法传奇开始出现在前线的两边，以及在欧洲和美国。
由于土耳其和澳新军团的部队陷入了胶着状态，加里波利的地形被证明非常适合狙击战。Sing因将众多土耳其狙击手从战场上消灭的名声和效率使他成为战友的宠儿。结果，土耳其人部署了他们最好的、受过德国训练的狙击手“Abdul the Terrible”，只是为了消灭Sing。
狙击手要想取得成功，不仅需要精湛的枪法，还需要出色的野战技巧、好奇的头脑和极度的耐性。狙击手与观察者合作，观察者使用观测望远镜为狙击手获取敌人的资料。 1915 年 8 月下旬，辛的观察员Trooper Tom Sheehan 被穿过望远镜击的子弹中，子弹嵌入Sing的右肩。这颗子弹很可能是“Abdul the Terrible”发射的。
Sing和Abdul互相追踪了很长时间，直到他们都相信他们找到了对方。等了几个小时后，Sing的观察员发现了Abdul。 Sing 瞄准，意识到他正从步枪枪管下方直视Abdul的脸。当Abdul扣动步枪的扳机时，一颗来自Sing的Lee-Enfield步枪的子弹已经在路上，穿过Abdul的步枪枪管，直接打在他的两眼之间。Sing的位置受到了猛烈的炮击，但他设法逃脱了。
1915年12月，Sing因“导至敌方伤亡201人”而受到陆军司令员的高度赞扬。 1916 年 1 月，Sing因“1915 年 5 月至 9 月在澳新军团担任狙击手的杰出英勇行为”获得了殊功勋章 。
加里波利撤退后，Sing加入了西线第 31 营。他经历了几次疾病，在英国休养。 1917 年 6 月 29 日，他在爱丁堡遇见并娶了一位名叫Elizabeth Stewart的女服务员。Sing在法国两次受伤，一次擅离职守。
他从澳新军团指挥官Birdwood将军那里获得了Mention in Dispatches for Gallantry，并没有成功地被推荐为军事勋章，但因在Polygon Wood战役中领导反狙击行动而获得比利时十字勋章 。
1918 年末，Sing在没有妻子Elizabeth陪同的情况下回到Proserpine，受市民的隆重欢迎。他获得一个士兵安居农场。这次创业失败了，Clermont附近 Miclere 金矿的采矿权也失败了。 1942 年，他搬到布里斯班靠近他的妹妹Beatrice，并于 1943 年 5 月独自一人在寄宿公寓里死于心力衰竭。Sing的口袋里有五先令。
In 2010, controversy erupted over the casting of a Caucasian actor to play the role of Billy Sing in a television mini-series 'The Legend of Billy Sing'. Director Geoff Davis cast his own son Josh in the title role, and Tony Bonner as Sing's father, receiving criticism for whiting-out an Australian hero of Chinese ancestry.
2010年，关于在电视迷你剧《Billy Sing传奇》中扮演Billy Sing一角的白人演员的选角引发了争议。导演Geoff Davis让他自己的儿子Josh担任主角，Tony Bonner扮演Sing的父亲，但因将一位有华裔血统的澳大利亚英雄白人化而受到批评。
