SKENE, Joseph Leo
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 January 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia, 23 March 1890 |
| Home Town: | Hawthorn, Boroondara, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Christian Brothers College, St Skilda, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Agent/Commercial Traveller, Jewellery Wholesaler |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Gallipoli, 12 December 1915, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli Plot 1, Row G, Grave 3 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Apr 1915: | Embarked 3rd Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Star of England, Brisbane | |
| 8 Apr 1915: | Involvement 3rd Field Artillery Brigade , ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of England embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Sep 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade , Transferred from the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade | |
| 15 Oct 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade , In the field | |
| 30 Nov 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade , 6th Battery, temporarily attached from 2nd Brigade Ammunition Column | |
| 12 Dec 1915: | Involvement Lieutenant, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade , ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 2nd Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1915-12-12 |
Help us honour Joseph Leo Skene's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of Andrew and Mary Skene. Husband of Mabel Knowles Skene nee Mossman of Boondara Grove, St Kilda, Victoria formerly of 5 Moore Street, Hawthorn, Victoria. Joseph and Mabel were married in about 1912c. Father of Noel Joseph Skene
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by Linda Neate
12 December, 1915 1st Artillery Division Lieutenant Skene was killed outright and 2nd Lieutenant Aarons was seriously wounded by shellfire this afternoon at Russells Top, the two officers engaged in a change-over as forward observing officers for the Brigade when the casualties took place.
[Vol.2 Page 20 of 6th Battery, Australian Field Artillery, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, 1st Division Australian Imperial Force.]
12 December, 1915 Joseph was originally buried Shrapnel Gully, Plot A, Row 7, No.2., 400 yards south-east of Anzac Cove, Officiating Chaplain Joseph Hearne Roman Catholic Clergyman, Captain Chaplain 4th Class [WW1 Service Record]
Battery Commander [later Lieutenant-Colonel George Stevenson] wrote expressing the condolences of the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade. The death of Lieutenant Skeen was irreparable, he said. “A fine fellow and a genuine friend” was the tribute of Dr. R.W. Whitford, adding that he was popular alike with the men and officers. [Australia’s Fighting Families, Part III, The All-Australia Memorial History, Heroes and Helpers, British-Australasian Publishing Service, 11 Bourke Street, Melbourne]
In a letter from Major Fred Leslie Biddle to his mother, from “Anzac” dated 13 December, 1915, “… George Stevenson’s subtaltern Skene’s death yesterday and another badly wounded.
Skene used to be in Caddy’s [Major Hector Osman Caddy] Albert Park Battery. He was forward observing Officer and his relief had just arrived. They were talking together in a dug-out behind the frontline when a chance shell came in.
We are all very sorry about it as he was a young married man and had become the proud father of an infant before he left Melbourne.”
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Biography contributed by Rod Hutchings
A silver torch, its glass shattered, sits at the bottom of a canvas valise. It rests against a shaving mirror, five pairs of socks, and a small sewing housewife. In June 1916, this bag arrived at 5 Moore Street in Hawthorn. For Mabel Skene, the items inside were the only physical remains of a marriage that had lasted exactly ten months.
Before the war, Joseph Skene was an "indentor", a commercial traveller familiar with the busy streets of Melbourne. He lived at 1 Linda Crescent, Hawthorn, with his mother Mary. Joseph Skene was a graduate of Christian Brothers College in East St Kilda. By early 1915, he had a wife, Mabel, and a son, Noel Joseph, who was not yet a year old.
Joseph Skene enlisted on 15 February 1915 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade. He embarked from Brisbane on the Star of England in April. After months of training in Egypt, he was promoted to Lieutenant in October and sent into the stalemate of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
On 12 December 1915, Joseph Skene was serving as a forward observing officer in the trenches. The officer sent to relieve him had just arrived. As the two men stood speaking, a shell landed directly on their position. Joseph Skene was killed instantly.
His body was carried to Shrapnel Valley, a rugged gully 400 yards southeast of Anzac Cove. He was buried there by Chaplain Hearne on 13 December. Within a week, the Australian forces began their secret evacuation, leaving Joseph Skene and thousands of others behind.
His son, Noel, would grow up with only the stories Mabel could tell and the contents of that canvas valise. Noel lived to the age of 93, passing away on ANZAC Day in 2007. Joseph Skene was 25 years old.
Lest we forget
Rod Hutchings
Director, Virtual War Memorial Australia
Click images to start slideshow.