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出生於Clermont，在 1914 年 10 月加入第五輕騎部隊之前曾擔任叢林畜牧員。
作為加里波利的一名狙擊手，Sing 被官方記錄為 201 次擊殺，非正式數字超過 300 次，儘管他自己只聲稱擊殺了 109 次，並因“顯著英勇”而獲得了殊功勳章 (DCM)。 在法國，他参與澳新軍團作戰，並因英勇受通報表揚並授予比利時十字勳章。 授予軍事勳章的推薦沒有被接納。
1918 年，Sing受到Proserpine市民的隆重歡迎。 然而，他於 1943 年在布里斯班去世時，口袋裡只有 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.
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'.
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 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.
被稱為加里波利刺客、加里波利狙擊手、澳新軍團狙擊手、土耳其鐵鎚和殺人兇手等頭銜的二等兵William Edward (Billy) Sing於 1886 年 3 月 2 日在Clermont出生。他的父親John Sing是一名來自上海的中國移民，他的母親 Mary Ann (原性 Pugh) 是來自Staffordshire的英國護士。
Billy Sing 與他的妹妹 Beatrice Sing 和同母異父的妹妹 Mary Ann Elizabeth Pugh 在 家族農場長大。在 1914 年 10 月 24 日在Bowen加入第 5 輕騎兵作為一名騎兵，入伍前Sing曾是一名叢林畜牧員，是熟練的騎手和神槍手。
Sing於 1914 年 12 月被送往埃及，並於 1915 年 5 月啟程前往加里波利，在那裡他花了一些時間在步兵部隊接受基本的塹壕戰訓練。 6 月中旬，Sing的兵團重新集結並駐紮在Bolton's Ridge向海一側的Chatham's Post。在Chatham's Post，Billy Sing的槍法傳奇開始出現在前線的兩邊，以及在歐洲和美國。
由於土耳其和澳新軍團的部隊陷入了膠着狀態，加里波利的地形被證明非常適合狙擊戰。Sing因將眾多土耳其狙擊手從戰場上消滅的名聲和效率使他成為戰友的寵兒。結果，土耳其人部署了他們最好的、受過德國訓練的狙擊手“Abdul the Terrible”，只是為了消滅Sing。
狙擊手要想取得成功，不僅需要精湛的槍法，還需要出色的野戰技巧、好奇的頭腦和極度的耐性。狙擊手與觀察者合作，觀察者使用觀測望遠鏡為狙擊手獲取敵人的資料。 1915 年 8 月下旬，Sing的觀察員Trooper Tom Sheehan 被穿過望遠鏡擊的子彈中，子彈嵌入Sing的右肩。這顆子彈很可能是“Abdul the Terrible”發射的。
Sing和Abdul互相追踪了很長時間，直到他們都相信他們找到了對方。等了幾個小時後，Sing的觀察員發現了Abdul。 Sing 瞄準，意識到他正從步槍槍管下方直視Abdul的臉。當Abdul扣動步槍的扳機時，一顆來自Sing的Lee-Enfield步槍的子彈已經在路上，穿過Abdul的步槍槍管，直接打在他的兩眼之間。Sing的位置受到了猛烈的砲擊，但他設法逃脫了。
1915年12月，Sing因“導至敵方傷亡201人”而受到陸軍司令員的高度讚揚。 1916 年 1 月，Sing因“1915 年 5 月至 9 月在澳新軍團擔任狙擊手的傑出英勇行為”獲得了殊功勳章 。
加里波利撤退後，Sing加入了西線第 31 營。 他經歷了幾次疾病，在英國休養。 1917 年 6 月 29 日，他在愛丁堡遇見並娶了一位名叫Elizabeth Stewart的女服務員。Sing在法國兩次受傷，一次擅離職守。
他從澳新軍團指揮官Birdwood將軍那裡獲得了Mention in Dispatches for Gallantry，並沒有成功地被推薦為軍事勳章，但因在Polygon Wood戰役中領導反狙擊行動而獲得比利時十字勳章 。
1918 年末，Sing在沒有妻子Elizabeth陪同的情況下回到Proserpine，受到市民的隆重歡迎。 他獲得一個士兵安居農場。 這次創業失敗了，Clermont附近 Miclere 金礦的採礦權也失敗了。
1942 年，他搬到布里斯班靠近他的妹妹Beatrice，並於 1943 年 5 月獨自一人在寄宿公寓裡死於心力衰竭。Sing的口袋裡有五先令。
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，關於在電視迷你劇《Billy Sing傳奇》中扮演Billy Sing一角的白人演員的選角引發了爭議。 導演Geoff Davis讓他自己的兒子Josh擔任主角，Tony Bonner扮演Sing的父親，但因將一位有華裔血統的澳大利亞英雄白人化而受到批評。
