Lieutenant Colonel William Francis James McCann, CMG, DSO, OBE, MC & Bar, JP (19 April 1892 – 14 December 1957) was an Australian soldier of World War I, a barrister, and a prominent figure in the military and ex-service community of South Australia during the interwar period.

Returning home, McCann became a barrister and formed a legal partnership with Victoria Cross recipient Arthur Blackburn.

His pre-war military experience consisted of four years in the volunteer cadets while he was at school and participating in the University of Adelaide Rifle Club during his teacher training.

On 19 May the battalion helped repel a concerted Turkish counter-attack against the landing force, after which it settled into a routine of rotating through various positions in the line.

[8] His outstanding service during the period 6 May to 28 June gained McCann several mentions in Australian and New Zealand Army Corps routine orders.

McCann remained at Anzac, serving as battalion intelligence and signalling officer until the unit was withdrawn to the island of Lemnos in late November, followed by evacuation to Egypt the following month.

When the bulk of the AIF was transferred to the Western Front, McCann shipped to France in late March 1916 as the scouting, sniping and intelligence officer of his battalion.

[a] The Australian Official War Historian, Charles Bean, described his actions as follows:[7][13] McCann, recognising that the enemy post must be seized, lined out in front of it in shell holes, the ten or twelve men who were with him.

With bombs they thoroughly subdued the German bombers, and smashed one machine gun – McCann's success in this bold movement being partly due to his having with him two old Gallipoli sergeants, G.D. Beames and L.C.

[18][21] McCann was medically classified to be repatriated to Australia on a hospital ship, but ignored these orders and returned to his battalion in France in November.

[18] On the night of 8 April 1917, as the Battle of Arras began, the 10th Battalion attacked Louverval Wood, an outpost of the Hindenburg Line of German defences.

McCann was wounded in the neck during the attack, and after having it bandaged and being scarcely able to speak, remained with his troops for several hours, and according to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, "was an inspiration to his men".

During the 10th Battalion's capture of Merris in July, his company's successful severing of the German lines of communication resulted in the award of a bar to McCann's Military Cross.

McCann's company suffered 30 casualties in the fighting, but their efforts allowed the 9th Battalion to re-establish its posts along the eastern edge of the wood.

McCann was reinforced; then, gathering troops from both his company and the 9th Battalion and moving forward by "vigorous action and hard, confused fighting", he and others closed the gap in the front line.

[28] For his actions at Crépey Wood, McCann was later made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, the second highest award for acts of gallantry by officers.

His courage and fine leadership prevented an important position falling into the hands of the enemy.The 10th Battalion was back in action on 22–23 August as the Allied advance continued north of Proyart.

Shortly after this he attended a strategy and tactics course at the Staff College, Camberley, before returning to the battalion in November, when he was appointed as unit second-in-command.

In accordance with normal procedures, while serving in the AIF he had been appointed an honorary major in the peacetime army, the Citizen Military Forces (CMF).

In 1921 he began an active association with the South Australian branch of the Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA), initially as a state vice-president.

[1][34] McCann was an early advocate for the building of the National War Memorial in Adelaide,[36] defended the status of Anzac Day as a public holiday against protests from the retail sector due to reduced shopping hours,[37] and represented the interests of soldier settlers.

[40] At the 1928 national conference of the RSSILA, McCann sharply criticised the defence policy of the Federal Government, particularly funding provided; "[d]efence has been brought down to such a low point", he said, "that it is now an absurdity.

[45][46] McCann took a leave of absence from the state presidency of the RSSILA to unsuccessfully run for the extremely marginal Division of Boothby as a Nationalist candidate in the 1929 federal election.

[51] In 1930, McCann was nominated for the position of national president of the RSSILA, as part of a South Australian push for preference for returned servicemen in employment matters.

In the event, the sitting president was re-nominated and narrowly re-elected with support from the state branches of Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania, and a casting vote by the returning officer.

He also ran unsuccessfully for election as the president of the state branch of the RSSILA, became a justice of the peace, and was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.

In 1938, McCann successfully ran for election as a councillor in the City of Burnside,[58] and was re-elected as a state vice-president of the RSSILA, continuing in this role until 1949.

[63] During the war, McCann was the chairman of the state Fighting Forces Comfort Fund, which sent parcels to troops serving overseas.