24871
HENNESSY, Clement Vincent
| Service Number: | 35228 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 May 1916, Orroroo, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 1st Divisional Signal Company |
| Born: | Orroroo, South Australia, 25 March 1896 |
| Home Town: | Orroroo, Orroroo/Carrieton, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Orroroo Public School |
| Occupation: | Grocer's assistant |
| Died: | Natural causes, Dimboola, Victoria, 24 February 1995, aged 98 years |
| Cemetery: |
Dimboola Cemetery, Dimboola, Victoria |
| Memorials: | Orroroo District Roll of Honour WW1, Orroroo Public School Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 25 May 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 35228, Orroroo, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Gunner, 35228, Field Artillery Brigades, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Sydney embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Nov 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Gunner, 35228, Field Artillery Brigades, HMAT Port Sydney, Melbourne | |
| 23 Aug 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Driver, 35228, 1st Divisional Signal Company |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Alice Johnson
Clement Vincent Hennessy
Clement Vincent Hennessy was born on the 25th of March, 1896, in Orroroo, South Australia. His father was John Hennessy and mother was Mary Hennessy. He also had three brothers.
He went to school at the Orroroo Public School, as it was known then.
Clem left school and worked as a grocer's assistant in Orroroo. Whilst working there he was studying a correspondence course in electrical engineering.
He enlisted as an AIF private on the 25th of May, 1916, at the age of twenty.
After spending time in the Musketry School in Cheltenham as an Acting Sergeant, he embarked for servicec overseas.joined the Field Artillery Brigade, Reinforcement 27 as a gunner. He embarked the HMAT A15 ship in November, 1917. He travelled through Suez, Alexandria and Taranto and arrived in England, 1918. Clem was then transferred to France in March on 1918 allotted to the 1st Australian Division Signal Company as a Driver. He stayed in France with the 1st Australian Division Signal Company until the end of the war.
Clement returned to Australia from England in 1919 and returned home to Orroroo.
In 1923, the Orroroo Council appointed Clem as junior assistant in the office, at a salary of sixty pounds per annum. That year he had a big involvement in getting the electricity turned on in Orroroo for the first time. The following year he was appointed Assistant Clerk, a position he held until November, 1926. Following this, Council divided the Clerk Overseer roles and Clement became Clerk.
He married Alice Bridget Lynch at St John’s Church in Laura on the 7th of May,1929.
Clem was actively involved in the community not only through his work on the council. He played cricket and a variety of other sports and was an active member of the Catholic Church. Clem organised a big community reunion on the 5th of March, 1937. There were a lot of photographs taken by an official photographer at the reunion.
When Clement resigned in 1949, after twenty nine years as Clerk, Miss Gwen Hennessy (Clement’s daughter) was engaged as Acting Clerk until a new Clerk was appointed.
The owner of the Imperial Hotel wrote a reference about Clem describing his work ethic. He said he was an alert man, with great capacity for work, organised, prompt, thorough and paid special attention to detail with everything he did. He took a main role in all sports that he was interested in.
Clement Vincent Hennessy died at the age of 98 of natural causes in Dimboola, Victoria in 1995 and is buried in the Dimboola cemetery.
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