O'KEEFE, Walter Thomas
| Service Number: | 114 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 34th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Harden, New South Wales, Australia, 1898 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 14 February 1969, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, NSW |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 114, 3rd Division Cyclist Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 114, 3rd Division Cyclist Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
| 18 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 114, 3rd Division Cyclist Company, HMAT Demosthenes, Sydney | |
| 1 Sep 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 36th Infantry Battalion | |
| 24 Apr 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 63rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 16 May 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 34th Infantry Battalion | |
| 22 Aug 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 114, 34th Infantry Battalion, France | |
| 29 Sep 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 114, 34th Infantry Battalion, France - GSW thigh | |
| 18 Jun 1920: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 114, 34th Infantry Battalion, per Hororata | |
| 17 Aug 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 114, 34th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Walter was the sixth of seven children of Robert O'Keefe (born 1855 in Queanbeyan, NSW) and Elizabeth Jane Thomas (born 1866 in Cootamundra, NSW). Robert and Elizabeth married at Cootamundra, NSW in 1886 and lived at Harden where Robert was a Publican. By 1914 the family were living at Milson's Point in Sydney, NSW where Robert was a Hotelkeeper.
Walter was 18 years of age and working as a Carpenter in 1914 when he enlisted in the AIF as a Private (Service No:114) with 3rd Division Cyclist Coy. He served in France with the 63rd, 36th and 34th Infantry Battalions. His great grandson Chris O'Keefe described Walter's service poignantly on 25 April 2018, writing that in a letter to the Army, Walter's brother wrote in 1918 'Dear Sir, We are very anxious about our brother still being away and not hearing of him for some considerable time. You will greatly oblige us if you can give us any information regarding him. Sorry to trouble you. Mother is awfully worried, we sent a cable months ago without reply'. Walter was hospitalised with bouts of influenza and rheumatic fever, and was WiA in France on two occasions. On the second occasion Walter was part of the Battle of St Quentin, part of the final push towards the Hindenberg Line when he received a GSW to his thigh. Chris O'Keefe writes ' His son, my grandfather, said that Private O'Keefe begged a young French doctor not to amputate his leg, which was common practice for wounds like his to prevent gangrene'. Walter was recuperating in England when he met his wife - his Nurse. Walter married Kathleen Mary Allard (born 1894 in Frome, Somerset) in October 1919 in Somerset. Walter returned to Australia in June 1920 on board the Hororata and was Discharged in August 1920. Brothers-in-Law William Frederick Whitlock (Sapper, Service No:6309) and Roy Rawnsley Keegan (Trooper, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Service No:72492) also served in WWI.
Walter and Kathleen settled in Botany, NSW and as Chris O'Keefe wrote 'He, like so many veterans, hardly breathed a word about the war. He didn't drink, only gambled when there was matchsticks at stake, and ended up a Postmaster' (2018). Kathleen died in 1954 and Walter in 1969.
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