S8566
MCCABE, Martin
| Service Number: | 2165 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 August 1915, at Adelaide |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Newcastle-On-Tyre, England, November 1881 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2165, 5th Pioneer Battalion, at Adelaide | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 2165, 5th Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Bee embarkation_ship_number: A48 public_note: '' | |
| 13 Jul 1916: | Embarked Private, 2165, 5th Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Seang Bee, Adelaide |
Help us honour Martin McCabe's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide High School
Martin McCabe was born to Amelia McCabe in the year of 1881 in Newcastle-On-Tyre, England. His enlistment papers state he was a Protestant. There is very little information that was documented or known of Martin’s early life and his family and relatives. At some point he emigrated to Australia and lived in a house on Taragon street, Thebarton, South Australia.
World War 1 broke out in 1914 and Martin watched as the war went on and realised that the Allies needed all the help they could get. It was up to him to contribute to the Great War and help his country when it needed him and it was exactly what he did. Martin McCabe enlisted for His Majesty’s Australian Imperial Force at the age of 33. According to the measurements made by the AIF, Martin was a small man with a height of only 5’4” (162.5cm) and a weight of 127 pounds (57.6Kg). He had a dark complexion along with blue eyes and dark brown hair. He enlisted in the 1st Pioneer Battalion after he passed his medical tests and took an oath to the King of that time, George the fifth.
Martin trained with the 2nd Depot Battalion in Adelaide for approximately 10 months and embarked on the HMAT Seang Bee A48 on 13 July 1916. After arriving in England Martin proceeded to France to join his unit, reaching them on 24 November 1916.
It is not clear if Martin McCabe ever sees much proper action because for the next two years he is struggling between illnesses and diseases. Somewhere along the way Martin makes his way back to England and is soon on his way to a hospital in Brighton because of severe gastritis. This takes its toll on him and he spends over a month in hospital before returning to the training camp in London. He returns to France months later in October to fight but this doesn’t last long either.
Martin suffered from Epididymitis during the war and he was admitted to hospital again on the 23rd of March 1918. That’s not all though he’s also diagnosed with osteomyelitis, a bone infection and is sent back to England on the 20th of June. The interesting thing here is that for an infection to get to the bone it must have not been treated properly and could mean that Martin fought in the trenches for a few months before contracting the infection. Finally, some good news, the war ends on November 11th and Martin arrives back in Australia over a year later on the H.J ‘Nestox’. Martin’s journey in WW1 ends when he is discharged from the army on the 31st of May 1920 and is allowed to continue on with his own life.