William Patrick HARKINS

William Patrick HARKINS Update Details

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HARKINS, William Patrick

Service Number:	558
Enlisted:	31 July 1916
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	1st Machine Gun Battalion
Born:	Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, 18 March 1895
Home Town:	Ipswich, Queensland
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Tailor
Died:	Basin Pocket, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, 6 January 1952, aged 56 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Not yet discovered
Memorials:	Ipswich Soldier's Memorial Hall Great War, Ipswich The Great War

World War 1 Service

31 Jul 1916:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 558, 1st Machine Gun Battalion
6 Dec 1916:	Involvement Private, 558, 3rd Machine Gun Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: ''
6 Dec 1916:	Embarked Private, 558, 3rd Machine Gun Company, HMAT Orsova, Melbourne
20 Sep 1917:	Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 558, 3rd Machine Gun Company, France - Shell Wound (Back)
18 Dec 1919:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 558, 1st Machine Gun Battalion , per Konigan Luise
25 Mar 1920:	Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 558, 1st Machine Gun Battalion

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

William was the fourth of eight children of Patrick Harkins (born 1866 in Ipswich, QLD) and Bridget Cronin (born 1863 in County Clare, ireland). Bridget immigrated with her sister Maria in 1882, arriving in Bowen, QLD in 1882. Patrick was a Sawyer and Bridget a Domestic Servant when they married in Ipswich, QLD in 1889. Patrick and Bridget settled at Basin Pocket in Ipswich, QLD where Patrick worked as a Labourer.

William was a Tailor in Ipswich, QLD when he enlisted in the AIF in 1916 - he had served 3 years with Cadets and 3 years with the CMF in Ipswich. William served as a Private (Service No:558) with 9/3 Machine Gun Coy and 1st Australian Machine Gun Battalion, and was WiA (Shell Wound - back) in France in September 1917. Recuperating in England, William undertook a Clothing Cutting Course, and was Discharged in March 1920.

William resumed work as a Tailor, living with his mother at Basin Paocket. He fractured his leg playing football in Ipswich in 1922. In 1926 he married Katherine (Kate) Teagle (born 1895 in Ipswich, QLD). William and Ellen settled in Ipswich where William was a Tailor and was elected Patron of the Ipswich and District Homing Society in 1937. William died in 1952 and Kate in 1986.

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