KELLY, Michael Herbert
| Service Number: | 1056 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 November 1915, two years cadets |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company) |
| Born: | Geraldon, Western Australia, May 1897 |
| Home Town: | Geraldton, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Shearer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 28 June 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
Pont-du-Hem Military Cemetery, la Gorgue |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Geraldton District Great War Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Nov 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 1056, Mining Corps, two years cadets | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Feb 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 1056, Mining Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Feb 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 1056, Mining Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Feb 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 1056, Mining Corps, HMAT Ulysses, Sydney | |
| 20 Feb 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 1056, Mining Corps, HMAT Ulysses, Sydney | |
| 20 May 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company) | |
| 27 Jun 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 1056, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1056 awm_unit: 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company awm_rank: Sapper awm_died_date: 1916-06-27 |
Great Uncle Michael Kelly
My dear Great Uncle Michael,
At last, I have seen your face and have a photograph as a memory of you. I will honour your service until I leave this earth.
You are my grandads brother, born to Michael Kelly of Northampton in Western Australia.
My Grandad Basil Kelly was only eleven years old when you were killed, it was something he never got over. But you, you look so young and so innocent. I have read your record of service and struggle to understand how anyone can face the fear and reality of death that you all endured, especially someone so young and innocent as you would have been.
Your death has shaped our Country but it broke your family. When World War II started, your brothers were angry because of what war had taken from us. Basil couldn’t enlist, he had lost part of his leg to an accident and because gangrene set it, his lower leg was amputated.
Lance Corporal Reginal Alyoysius Kelly, of the 2/16 Australian Infantry Battalion was only weeks old, born in June 1916, when you died. He never met you. Great Uncle Reg dying in France on 3 October 1943. His medical report shows how many times he was shot, then days later was back on the front line to fight. He served and gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Gerald James Kelly, was in the 2/32 Battalion. He never came home, dying on 14 July 1943.
My Great Grandparents lost three sons. My grandad Basil lost his brothers and never forgot who killed them and why they died. He lived with traumatic memories never left him until the day he left us in 1984.
So, my dear Great Uncles, I thank you for your service and always remember your sacrifice. Your names are being honoured for the sacrifice you gave to keep us safe. I love you all and wish you were here to thank, hug, cry and talk to.
Your Great Niece Katherine Pritchard (nee Kelly)
Submitted 23 July 2021 by Katherine Pritchard
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From Katherine Pritchard (Great Niece)
100 Years Of ANZAC
Michael Herbert Kelly, Sapper 1056
I know I am late, I am sorry. Family history has a way of stopping when grief takes over those left behind. The stories aren't told and the pain is eased by emptying the bottle.
My Great Uncle Michael Herbert Kelly, Sapper 1056, 3rd Australian Tunneling Company was the first to be killed in his unit in France. He was in a town car and killed by a rifle grenade. He was only 19, had only been at war for 5 weeks. His dad served in the Boer War, his grandfather in the Crimean War, at the Battle of Inkerman and Battle of Sevastapol. They survived. But Michael was killed on 26/27 June 1916 on the Western Front. His two younger brothers served in WW2 and died in 1943. I am proud family of an ANZAC, but so sad for the loss to our family and to him, he wasn't even an adult. Our brave servicemen and women sacrificed everything for us. Those coming back sacrificed everything too, they were never the person they were before the war.
Lest We Forget.
Click images to start slideshow.