KENNERLEY, Felix
| Service Number: | 2677 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, December 1889 |
| Home Town: | Merewether, Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Forging machine attendant |
| Died: | Wounds at Broodseinde, 10th Casualty Clearing Station, Belgium, 5 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Plot XX, Row F, Grave No. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Merewether Memorial Gates, Newcastle & District Firemen HR |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2677, 19th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 2677, 19th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 2677, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 14 Feb 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 4th Infantry Battalion | |
| 24 Jul 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2677, 4th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , Shell shock | |
| 4 Oct 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 2677, 4th Infantry Battalion, Broodseinde Ridge, DoW SW, compound fracture right thigh, 10th Casualty Clearing Station | |
| 5 Oct 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 2677, 4th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2677 awm_unit: 4th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-10-05 |
Help us honour Felix Kennerley's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Gary Mitchell, Sandgate Cemetery
Awaiting memorialisation at Sandgate Cemetery.
103 years ago today, on the 5th October 1917, Lance Corporal Felix Kennerley, 4th Battalion (Reg No-2677), forging machine attendant (Government Yards, Newcastle, N.S.W.), from Morgan Street, Merewether, New South Wales, died of wounds received during the Battle of Broodseinde, Belgium, Passchendaele Campaign, age 28.
No Roll of Honour circular submitted.
Born at Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England about 1890 to Thomas John (died 1909) of Selwyn Street, Merewether, New South Wales and Letitia Amelia (died?) Kennerley nee Hackett, Felix enlisted July 1915 with the 19th Battalion at Liverpool, N.S.W.
Wounded in action - 22.7.1916 (shell shock, mild - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133881397), 4.10.1917 (SW, compound fracture right thigh, Mr Kennerley is resting at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium. Plot XX Row E Grave 4A. Many thanks again to Eddy Lin for the headstone photos.
Felix’s name has been inscribed on the Merewether (Mitchell Park) Memorial Gates, Merewether U.A.O. Druids (Rock of Hope branch) Roll of Honour, Newcastle and District Firemen Honour Roll (photo, unveiled on the 28th March 1919, 15 names inscribed, 4 fell, located at 44 Union Street, Newcastle, N.S.W. , New South Wales Fire Brigades Roll of Honour, Newcastle South Public School Roll of Honour and the NSW Govt Railways and Tramways Roll of Honour, 1914-1919.
There is no headstone for Felix’s father Thomas, therefore no memorial inscription to tell us of the supreme sacrifice of his son during The Great War, so September 2017 I placed a memorial cross adorned with poppies on the gravesite, taken a photo of the memorialised grave and uploaded the photo onto the Northern Cemetery website as a permanent record of his service. ANGLICAN 1-38. 67.
A Memorial Plaque has been placed on The Capt. Clarence Smith Jeffries (V.C.) and Pte. William Matthew Currey (V.C.) Memorial Wall, located within the grounds of the cemetery (photo).
Lest We Forget.
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Felix KENNERLEY (Service Number 2677)was born about December 1889 in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He worked for the Perway Branck of the NSW Railways.
Kennerley enlisted at Liverpool on 20th July 1915. He described his ‘trade of calling’ as a ‘Forging Machine Attendant’. He was not married and gave his mother Letitia of Merewether as his next of kin.
He left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Euripides’ on 2nd November 1915. He was taken on the strength of the 4th Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir (Egypt) on 14th February 1916. By 23rd March 1916 he had embarked at Alexandria for France, passing through Marseilles on 30th March.
He was wounded in action between 22nd and 27th July at Pozières. His injury is described as ‘shell-shock’. He was passed from the 2nd Australia Field Ambulance, to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station, the 16th Ambulance Train, the 8th General Hospital and then embarked for England on the Hospital Ship ‘Gloucester Castle’ and then to Regents Park Hospital.
He had recovered sufficiently by the end of September 1916 to be granted furlough, and to proceed overseas to France in October. He rejoined the 4th Battalion on the 26th October.
In June 1917 he was promoted to Lance-Corporal and in September proceeded on leave. On 4th October 1917 he was wounded in action in Belgium. Kennerley was admitted to the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance with shrapnel wounds, including a compound fracture of his right thigh. He was transferred to the 10th Casualty Clearing Station but of his wounds – described then as ‘Shrapnel Wounds Multiple’.
Kennerley was buried at Lijssenhoek Military Cemetery, 1¾ miles S.W. of Poperinghe (Belgium).
A pension of £2 per fortnight was granted to his widowed mother.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
Click images to start slideshow.