RYAN, Casimar Edric Pennefather
| Service Number: | 813 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 November 1914, Townsville, Queensland |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Gympie, Queensland, 1 March 1891 |
| Home Town: | Gympie, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bank Clerk |
| Died: | Natural causes, Brisbane, Queensland, 29 February 1940, aged 48 years |
| Cemetery: |
Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens & Crematorium, Queensland |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Nov 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 813, Townsville, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Nov 1914: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Sergeant, 813, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, 813, 15th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, 813, 15th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 27 Apr 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sergeant, 813, ANZAC / Gallipoli, GSW (left thigh) | |
| 8 Mar 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 813, 15th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Casimar Edric Pennefather Ryan's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Edwards
Son of John Pennefather Ryan and Jessie Gertrude Ryan (nee Bliss)
"Grandad and Simpson's Donkey
John Simpson Kirkpatrick of "Simpson and his donkey" fame carried many wounded diggers to safety at Gallipoli, one of them Lesley Roberts' grandfather. Cas Ryan was nursed down Shrapnel Valley with a bullet in his left thigh two days after landing with the 15th Battalion on the afternoon of April 25, 1915.
"At the time I thought someone had bashed me with a sledge hammer," Sergeant Ryan wrote to a mate from his hospital bed. "Most of the bearers had been sniped by the enemy. However I slid down the hill for about 400 yards, hobbled part of the way and finished up on a donkey. The donkeys did great work."
Lesley and her daughter, Jennifer, will be at Gallipoli on Anzac Day to say their thanks for the brave efforts of their ancestor and so many other Australian soldiers a century ago. She has been to see the steep, barren slopes above Anzac Cove once before and the almost impossible battleground left a deep impression.
"I was absolutely amazed that they even tried," she said.
Jennifer has also been anticipating her visit but even after months of detailed research about her great-granddad and applying for the Australian government ballot, she says she doesn't know what to expect from being on the fabled site and experiencing the dawn service. The visit will be doubly special: Jennifer turns 30 on Anzac Day. Casimir Edric Pennefather Ryan was evacuated from Turkey - first to Egypt and then England - on a hospital ship. He finally got back to Australia in November, 1915 and after being discharged as medically unfit for service, returned to his work as a bank clerk - one of the lucky survivors of the campaign that would claim about 8700 Australian lives. The legendary Simpson, perhaps the best-known soldier of the Gallipoli conflict for his work ferrying wounded to safety on his donkey, was not lucky: he was killed by a Turkish bullet on May 19, 1915. Three years after Cas Ryan arrived home, he married and began a family. He continued to work at the bank and died in 1940 aged 48.
Cas Ryan's medals, his wartime diaries and the bullet that came out of his leg have all been precious keepsakes for his family. After this Anzac Day, 100 years on, they will have a treasured memory and a deeper understanding of what he and so many other service men and women went through in service of their country." - from SBS Online 15 Apr 2015 (www.sbs.com.au)
Click images to start slideshow.