DEMPSEY, Raymond Francis
| Service Number: | 1471 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 10th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Waratah, New South Wales, Australia, 15 December 1897 |
| Home Town: | Newcastle, Hunter Region, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Melincourt, France, 5 April 1918, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Frechencourt Communal Cemetery Row a, Grave 14 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Waratah Memorial Gates |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1471, 7th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 1471, 7th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 1471, 7th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Involvement Driver, 1471, 10th Field Artillery Brigade , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1471 awm_unit: 10th Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Driver awm_died_date: 1918-04-05 |
Help us honour Raymond Francis Dempsey'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
Let us remember a Fallen soldier of The Great War memorialised at Sandgate Cemetery.
On the 5th April 1918, Driver Raymond Francis Dempsey, 10th Australian Field Artillery Brigade (Reg No-1471), labourer from Mosquito (Moscheto) Island, Newcastle, New South Wales, was Killed in Action at Melincourt, France, age 20. Cause of death unknown.
No Roll of Honour circular submitted.
Born at Mosquito (Moscheto) Island, Newcastle, New South Wales on the 15th December 1897 to Joseph, (died 25.8.1939, age 89), from Church Street, Mayfield, New South Wales and 18 Havelock Street, Mayfield, N.S.W., and Catherine Dempsey nee Ryan, (died 31.10.1910, age 54, mother of 14 or 16), from Church Street, Mayfield, New South Wales and 18 Havelock Street, Mayfield, N.S.W., Ray enlisted on the 2nd August 1915 with the 7th Australian Light Horse Regiment at Newcastle, N.S.W.
Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on board HMAT A14 Euripides on the 2nd November 1915.
Transferred to 10th Australian Field Artillery Brigade, 39th Battery 27.3.1916.
Admitted to hospital 14.12.1915 (pneumonia, slight), 22.1.1916 (mumps), 30.1.1917 (bronchitis), 12.1.1918 (bronchitis).
Granted leave to England from 26.2.1917 to 13.3.1917 and 11.2.1918 to 26.2.1918.
Mr. Dempsey is resting at Frechencourt Communal Cemetery, France. Row A Grave 14.
Many thanks to Thierry Grier for the headstone and cemetery photos.
Place of Association - Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Ray’s name has been inscribed on the Waratah Park Memorial Gates, Mosquito Island Roll of Honour - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140973753 and The Capt. Clarence Smith Jeffries (V.C.) and Pte. William Matthew Currey (V.C.) Memorial Wall.
3 brothers served 1st A.I.F.
Older brother Donald Peter (Don, born 29.12.1887, Mosquito (Moscheto) Island, New South Wales, married coal trimmer from Little Young Street, Carrington, N.S.W., enlisted 18.1.1916, 35th Battalion, Reg No-1113, KIA 8.10.1917, Battle of Broodseinde, age 29, 18th Battalion, name inscribed on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 23), Belgium), memorialised same location at the cemetery. CATHOLIC 1-B Spec. 89.
Older brother Henry (Harry, born 12.5.1889, Mosquito (Moscheto) Island, New South Wales, farmer from Mosquito (Moscheto) Island, New South Wales and 62 Perkins Street, Newcastle, N.S.W. (1949), enlisted 16.1.1916, 34th Battalion, Reg No-407, wounded in action - 9.3.1917 (GSW both feet), 3.5.1918 (GSW left foot, severe), RTA invalided 11.6.1919, died 19.10.1966, age 77, not officially commemorated), resting at the cemetery. CATHOLIC 3-88. 117.
I have placed poppies at the memorialised Dempsey gravesite in remembrance of their 2 son’s service and supreme sacrifice for God, King & Country. CATHOLIC 1-B Spec. 89.
Contact with descendants would be greatly appreciated.
For more detail, see “Forever Remembered“.
http://www.commemoratingwarheroes.com/cemetery-main-search/.
Lest We Forget.
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