KENNEDY, Matthew Bernard
| Service Number: | 4371 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Albany, Western Australia, 15 September 1897 |
| Home Town: | Albany, Albany, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia, 6 September 1979, aged 81 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Albany & Districts Roll of Honor, Albany & Districts Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 23 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4371, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 4371, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 4371, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Runic, Fremantle | |
| 17 Jul 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 4371, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), per HT Seang Choon for Fremantle | |
| 28 Sep 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 4371, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), Medically Unfit |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Matthew Bernard Kennedy (Service No:4371) enlisted in the AIF on 23 August 1915 and embarked from Fremantle for Alexandria on board HMAT Runic A54 on 29 January 1916. Private Kennedy served with the 16th Infantry Battalion and embarked for the RTA on 17 July 1916 on board HT Seang Choon. He was Discharged (Medically Unfit) on 28 September 1916.
Born in 1897 in Albany WA, Matthew was the third of nine children of Matthew Kennedy (b1860 in Tipperary, Ireland) and Lily Teresa Fisher (b1872 in Perth, WA). Matthew Snr (a Labourer) and Lily married in 1892 at Torbay nr Albany where they settled and raised their family and Matthew was a Labourer.
Following his Discharge from the AIF, Matthew worked as a Labourer, Railway Employee and Clerk and in 1918 in Coolgardie WA married Myrtle Grace Clark (b1900 in Coolgardie, WA). Matthew (who had a tattoo of 'Egypt' and a pyramid on his left forearm)and Myrtle moved to Donnybrook, WA where Matthew deserted his wife and young children and moved to South Australia, where he used the aliases 'Dennis Noble' and 'Maurice' Kennedy. In 1926 at Tallem Bend in South Australia, he married Grace Gertrude Schammer (b1894 at Neuarparr, Victoria and between 1927 and 1929 he was arrested under various aliases for thefts at Port Pirie in South Australia and eventually served several years in prison. Grace died in 1959, and there are diverse family anecdotes about Matthew's activities, aliases and marriages post prison in South Australia. He died in 1979.
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