DOWNEY, Elijah Haynes
| Service Number: | 2290 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 June 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Trooper |
| Last Unit: | 14th Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Northam, Western Australia, 2 December 1894 |
| Home Town: | Pinjarra, Murray, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Locomotive Cleaner |
| Died: | Albany, Western Australia, 4 June 1965, aged 70 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Jun 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2290, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 2290, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 2290, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Wandilla, Fremantle | |
| 16 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Trooper, 2290, 14th Light Horse Regiment |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Trooper Elijah Haynes Downey (Service No:2290) enlisted in the AIF on 2 June 1915 (he had previously served three years with the Militia) and embarked from Fremantle WA (as a Private) for Egypt three weeks later. Private Downey was WiA at Gallipoli Peninsular on 25 August 1915 and hospitalised in Cairo. In June 1916, then serving with Imperial Camel Corps, he was invalided to England on board HMAS Maheno - he was hospitalised on several occasions for Gastro Enteritis, Influenza and Bronchitis. Private Downey served with 1st Anzac Battalion, 7th/11th and 6th/16 Infantry Battalions. He was a Trooper attached to 14th Light Horse Regiment on 24 July 1919 when he embarked at Kantara in Egypt for the return to Australia, where he was Discharged in October 1919.
Born in 1894 in Northam WA, Elijah was the seventh of eight children of James Henry Horace Downey (b1846 in London, England) and Susan Theresa Howell (b1860 in Guildford, WA). James (a Storeman) and Susan married in 1899 in Adelaide, South Australia and settled in Midland Junction WA where James worked as a Storeman.
Elijah started work with the WAGR in 1910 at Midland Junction as a Junior Labourer with the Locomotive Branch and by 1913 was a Locomotive Cleaner in Pinjarra WA. Following his return from WWI, Elijah worked in Midland Junction for WAGR as a Locomotive Fireman and in 1921 married Elizabeth Dorothy Francis (b1905 in Glasgow, Scotland) - Elizaabeth had arrived in Fremantle WA with her parents and siblings in 1913 on board the Belgic and the family settled in Midland Junction WA). Elijah and Elizabeth lived in Northam and Busselton WA where Elijah was a Locomotive Fireman with the WAGR and by 1943 they had settled in Albany WA where Elijah was a Locomotive Driver. Elijah died in 1965 and Elizabeth in 1992.
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