MCKENZIE, James
| Service Number: | 1957 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 January 1916, Brisbane, Qld. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Lanarkshire, Scotland, 1895 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Fruit Farmer |
| Died: | Tuberculosis, Military Hospital Northgate, Queensland, Australia, 10 April 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Toowong (Brisbane General) Cemetery, Queensland |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Kallangur Pine Rivers Memorial Gates |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1957, 49th Infantry Battalion, Brisbane, Qld. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 1957, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Clan McGillivray embarkation_ship_number: A46 public_note: '' | |
| 1 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 1957, 49th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Clan McGillivray, Brisbane |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
James's parents were Colin McKenzie and Mary Tennent Ross. James's brother Colin McKenzie lived at Petrie and was working as a farmer in 1916. James enlisted 22 January 1916 at Brisbane, his occupation on enlisting was a fruit farmer. His unit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A46 Clan Macgillivray on 1 May 1916. James was admitted to the hospital Military Hospital 17 August 1916, England with Tuberculosis. He returned to Australia in 1916 and died of illness on 10 April 1917, Plaque in Garden of Remembrance, Queensland.
Biography contributed by Ian Lang
McKENZIE James # 1957 49th Battalion
James McKenzie was born at Logiebank, Lanarkshire in Scotland. He attended Dolphinton Public School and then took up an apprenticeship with a woollen manufacturing company in Edinburgh. At the age of 18 he emigrated to Queensland, perhaps accompanied by his brother, Colin. By the time of his enlistment on 22nd January 1916, James reported that he was farming fruit with his brother Colin in the North Pine (Petrie) district. He was then 20 years of age and named his mother, Mary who was still living in Scotland as his next of kin. James’ father had died some years before.
James was allocated as a reinforcement for the 49th Battalion and embarked in Brisbane on the “Clan McGillivray” in Brisbane on 1st May 1916. The reinforcements had a brief stay in Egypt before continuing on to England.
Two days after his arrival in Southampton on 15th August, James reported to the Military Hospital at Fargo where he was admitted with an unknown condition. He reported that he had developed a cough while transiting through Egypt and had lost weight. It was soon determined that James was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.
James went before a medical board at Fargo on 1st October where it was established that he had contracted TB as a result of his war service. The board’s recommendation was that he be sent back to Australia. This recommendation was carried out with remarkable speed and two weeks later, James was taken on board the Australian Hospital Ship “Karoola”.
James arrived in Melbourne on 4th December 1916 and was transferred by rail to Brisbane where arrangements were made to have James transferred to a sanitorium at Dalby. The only treatment for TB at that time was to place the patient in an environment where the climate was warm and dry. Nevertheless, most TB patients eventually succumbed to the disease.
It would seem that while James was returning to Australia, his mother also took ship to Brisbane. James condition in Dalby did not improve and he returned to his brother Colin’s house at Northgate on 20th March 1917. James’ mother was also staying in the house at Ridge Street, Northgate and she nursed James until he died three weeks later.
James was buried at the Brisbane General Cemetery at Toowong. By the time that medals and commemorative plaques were being distributed by the authorities in the 1920s, Mary McKenzie had returned to Edinburgh.