Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

"HOURIHAN. — In sad and loving memory of our dear brother, James Frances Hourihan, who was killed in action on the 15th September, 1917, in France, aged 30 years.

Nay, we must sacrifice a little, Why should we weep for thee, dear Jim?

An honoured death — thou has't died for Britain To keep Australia free.

God gave us strength to send you, Courage to let you go;

All that it meant to lose you, Jim, Only our sad hearts know.

(Inserted by his brother, sisters, and brothers-in-law, Jerry and Dennis. The sisters are May Clifford, Ellen Bickoff, and Norah. Also John, who is at the front. The brothers-in-law are Edward, Clifford and Harry Bickoff.)" - from the Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser 03 Oct 1917 (nla.gov.au)

 
# 6426 HOURIHAN James Francis                  26th Battalion
 
James Hourihan, known as Jim to his family, was the eldest of seven children born to Dennis and Mary Hourihan. Jim was born in Maryborough but attended school at Kilkivan. He worked at various labouring jobs along the Kingaroy and Biggenden Rail Lines, and by 1915 was working as a teamster with his brother John (Jack) in the timber forests at Thinoomba, west of Maryborough.
 
Jack had previously enlisted in the AIF in November 1914 but was at some point was discharged (the records for this are not in existence) and had returned to working with his elder brother. On 15th August 1916, Jim and Jack travelled together to Brisbane by train where they both enlisted at the Adelaide Street Recruiting Office. In answer to the question, “Have you previously served with His Majesty’s Forces? Jack replied no! The boys’ father was deceased and their mother, although still living, was according to eldest daughter Mary, a long-term patient in a mental hospital. Consequently, Jim and Jack both named their eldest sister, Mary Clifford of Tarong near Nanango, as next of kin. At enlistment Jim was 30 years old and Jack 25.
 
The brothers spent some time in camp at Enoggera before being allocated to the 18th reinforcements of the 26th Battalion, part of the 7th brigade of the 2nd Division AIF. On 23rd December, the reinforcements travelled by train to Sydney where they embarked on the “Demosthenes” for the voyage to England. Upon arrival in Plymouth Harbour in March 1917, the reinforcements made their way to the 7th Brigade Training Battalion at Rollestone on Salisbury Plain.
 
The 18th reinforcements were despatched to the front in June 1917 and Jack and Jim were taken on strength by the 26th Battalion on 9th July at Bapaume on the Somme. In August of 1917, the 2nd Division was ordered north to billets around Steenvoorde on the Belgian Border to prepare for a major offensive against Westhoek Ridge.
 
Jim’s official record states that he was Killed in Action on 15th September 1917. This date is rather confusing as the 26th Battalion War Diary does not record any action being undertaken on that date. Additionally, Jim’s remains were never recovered which would tend to indicate that he was in fact killed by artillery fire in the attack on Westhoek Ridge on 20th September.
 
James Hourihan’s remains were never located. He is one of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. Their names are inscribed on the Portland Stone Tablets under the arches of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing. Since the 1930s, with only a brief interval during the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. The ceremony concludes with the laying of wreaths, the recitation of the ode, and the playing of the Last Post by the city’s bugle corps.
Jack Hourihan was eventually repatriated back to Australia in the middle of 1918 having been treated for shell shock. Upon discharge, he settled in Tairo.