Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Mulqueeny was born Brunswick, Victoria in 1878. Marrying a Maggie Mitchell in 1903, also from Brunswick. They both moved to Western Australia in 1913. Little is known about their movements in WA, until John enlisted in the AIF in May 1915 with 16th Battalion.

He trained at Blackboy Hill near Perth, Western Australia. It is here that Mulqueeny deserted from the AIF for a period of 2 years, where he voluntary reported back to the Blackboy Hill in May 1917. On return he again went absent without leave and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He returned back to duty in September 1917.

It was in September 1917 that John was attached to the 51st Battalion, 11th reinforcements, embarking for France in October 1917 from Melbourne, arriving in England in December 1917.

Mulqueeny arrived in France in April 1918, whilst in France he again went absent without leave from duty. He was sentenced 7 days detention.

In early April 1918, 51st Battalion was in action near the French village of Dernancourt with the German’s on the outskirts of the French village of Villers Bretonneux. The village of Hamel had been over run. Bayonet charges by the AIF and British soldiers had driven the Germans back at Villers Bretonneux, but the Germans would soon take the village again.

During April, 51st Battalion rested around the village of Corbie and by the 23rd April 1918 the battalion was located at Querrieu. During the night the battalion was advised to be ready to move at short notice. Reports had indicated an attack by the Germans was expected.

On the evening of the 24th April 1918 Mulqueeny along with his battalion moved into position near the woods of Bois d’ Aquenne. At 10.10pm on that night Mulqueeny with his platoon advanced towards their objective of Monument Wood. It was from the woods of Bois d’ Aquenne that the German machine gunners opened fired on the 51st Battalion. Initially Mulqueeny avoided been hit by the machine gun fire.

Mulqueeny wrote in a letter to Charles Bean “further along the sunken road was a lone machine gunner and to those of us in the open he had caused no end of trouble. – Twice he had hit me with a bullet in the right arm just above the elbow, then he got me in the right knee with a bullet. I crept to into a shell hole and soon had a boot full of blood.

Mulqueeny was hospitalised and with rehabilitation he re joined his battalion in September 1918. He was repatriated to Australia in June 1919, returning to Fremantle.

On his return to Australia Mulqueeny undertook agriculture studies where he was allocated farming land under the Return Soldiers’ Scheme in Lake Brown near Mukinbudin. In his time there Mulqueeny became a leader for all the local wheat farmers of the district. In 1930 a meeting was held in Merredin with hundreds of people attending, where a Wheat growers Union was formed with Mulqueeny being elected as its president. Mulqueeny travelled to other local towns promoting the union. The Wheat Growers Union was formalised in 1931, however due to Mulqueeny’s political alliances he was passed over, but instead was given the title of Foundation President due to his work in setting up the union.

Mulqueeny became a councillor of the Nungarin Road Board also being elected onto the Mukinbudin Road Board in 1933. He was also part of a delegation that lobbied the Federal Government for the bulk handling of wheat installation to be trialed at Wyalkatchem in 1932. Up until then farmers had to bag their wheat and take it to a local train station to be weighed in.

On the 22nd of August 1935, Mulqueeny passed away where he was buried in the Nungarin Cemetery.

John Mulqueeny has not been forgotten for just east of Mukinbudin is a place called “Pope’s Hill”. An historical site to commemorate the Soldiers Farming Scheme for Lake Brown with a dedication to Private John Mulqueeny and Colonel Harold Pope contributions to the district for their efforts to improve the settler’s conditions.