CASEY, Thomas
| Service Number: | 3144 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 30 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Botany, New South Wales, Australia, 1884 |
| Home Town: | Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Shearer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 20 September 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen Plot B, Row 17, Grave No. 6. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3144, 9th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3144, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
| 5 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3144, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Warilda, Brisbane | |
| 20 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 3144, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3144 awm_unit: 49th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-09-20 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
He enlisted at Toowoomba, Queensland and served under the name Thomas Casey. He gave his nearest of kin as his friend, Miss Nellie Cordelia Kirwin, 167 William Street, Sydney, New South Wales and made an allotment of three shillings per day from his pay to her. Nellie was in fact, his eldest sister, Ellen Cordelia Kirwan.
After the war, Nellie had to sign a statuary declaration stating that Thomas Casey was her brother and his real name was Michael Kirwan. In 1921 she had to sign another form making claim to his medals. Another sister, Mary M. Kirwan completed the roll of honour form during 1930.
It seems Thomas Casey’s real name was Maurice Kirwan (as per birth records) as Nellie’s other brother, 522 Private Michael Alphonsus Kirwan 2nd Battalion AIF, would later die of accidental wounds in France during August 1918. Michael Alphnosus Kirwan also gave his next of kin as his elder sister Nellie Cordelia Kirwan.
Both parents of the Kirwan siblings had died, the father was killed in a railway accident in 1899 and their mother 10 years later.
Thomas Casey (Maurice or Michael Kirwan) was mortally wounded during the AIF's last attack on Mouquet Farm on 3 September 1916. Wounded in the face and shoulder he passed away through several dressing stations before he passed away over two weeks later in a General Hospital in Rouen, France.