LENEHAN, Anthony
| Service Number: | 1721 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Paddington, New South Wales, Australia, 23 February 1892 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Boilermaker at Eveleigh Railway Workshops |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 2 March 1917, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
Warlencourt British Cemetery I E 22 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Jul 1915: | Involvement Private, 1721, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Suffolk embarkation_ship_number: A23 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Jul 1915: | Embarked Private, 1721, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suffolk, Sydney | |
| 1 Nov 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 17th Infantry Battalion | |
| 2 Mar 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 1721, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1721 awm_unit: 17th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-03-02 |
Help us honour Anthony Lenehan's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by James Baptiste Maries
"Anthony arrived in Gallipoli on the 19 Sep 1915, 3 weeks after the disastrous attack on Hill 60. He would have taken up position at Quinn's Post, a heavily contested area of the Gallipoli campaign.
The battalion withdrew in December, along with the whole allied army, to Alexandria, Egypt. Later they arrived in Marseilles, France on the 23 Mar 1916 and moved to the front of the Western Front near Armentières, in preparation the the Battle of the Somme.
He took part in the Battle of the Somme at the battle of Pozières, twice. After the Battle of the Somme, Anthony along with the 17th Battalion was moved north towards Belgium, but was then ordered back to the Somme, taking up defensive positions. After the winter, the Germans began their retreat to the newly devised strategic Hindenburg Line, a defensive line to halt any further Allied offensives.
As the Germans retreated, the allies advanced. The allies encountered Germans booby traps and the German rear guard as they moved forward. During this time, on the 2 Mar 1917, Anthony was wounded in action.
Anthony was promoted to Lance Corporal on the 1st Nov 1916 and this rank was recorded on his war record.
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Anthony LENEHAN (Service Number 1721) was born on 23rd February 1892 at Paddington. He became an apprentice boilermaker at Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops on 17th October 1907. Once this apprenticeship had expired in February 1913 he was discharged as was the routine. He was not re-employed as a boilermaker until April. He became permanent in June 1914.
Lenehan was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 17th May 1917.
He enlisted at Liverpool two days later, giving his father, Jack,who was living at Hurstville, as his next of kin. Lenehan embarked on HMAT ‘Suffolk’ at Sydney on 28th July 1915. he was allotted to the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion. After staging through Egypt, he re-embarked at Alexandria on 11th September and was taken on the strength of the Battalion on Gallipoli on 17th September 1915.
After the general evacuation he returned to Alexandria via Mudros (on the Greek island of Lemnos) on 9th January 1916.
The Australian Battalions re-grouped in Egypt for a few months. In March Lenehan embarked again at Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force in France, travelling through Marseilles on 23rd March 1916. In November 1916 he was promoted to Lance Corporal.
On 2nd March 1917he was wounded in action. He died of those wounds on the same day.
R C Morrisby (1738) reported:
‘I was in his party bringing up bombs to the front line at Malt trench neat Butte de Warlencourt on March 2nd and saw him hit in the back by a shell splinter. It was a bad wound and he was unconscious from the time he was hit. I helped carry him to the D/S. I was with him till he died at the D/S an hour after being hit. He did not talk at all nor do I think he was conscious of any suffering. He was buried at once. I helped bury him. A Chaplain read the Service. I do not know the Chaplain’s name. His grave is with a group of about 20 at the foot of the Butte on the right hand side from Albert to Bapaume.’
He was buried South of Hexham Road ½ mile E of Le Sars, 4¾ miles NW of Combles. After the war in the rationalisation of cemeteries Lenehan’s remains were exhumed and re-interred at Warlencourt New British Cemetery 2½ miles SW of Bapaume.
A pension of 25/- per fortnight was granted to his mother Ellen.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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