Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

# 1815 KELLY Gerald John Mortimer                         Imperial Camel Corps
 
Gerry Kelly was born in Roma about 1888 to Mary and Malachi Kelly. He attended school at Roma and around 1900, the family moved to “Atta Mira” at Esk. Gerry made his way to Enoggera on 18th May 1915 where he enlisted in the AIF. He informed the recruiters he was 27 years old, a stockman from Esk. Gerry named his mother, Mary Kelly, as his next of kin.
 
Gerry was taken into the 2nd reinforcements of the 25th Battalion. The main body of the 25th embarked for overseas at the end of June but the reinforcements would not complete their training until August 1915. The 2nd Reinforcements travelled by train to Sydney where they embarked on the “Shropshire” on 20th August. The embarkation roll shows that Gerry Kelly had allocated 3/- of his daily pay of 5/- to his mother.
 
Upon arrival in Egypt in late September, the reinforcements went into camp at Abbassia. The 25th Battalion was by that time already taking up positions on the Gallipoli Peninsula. By that time in the Gallipoli Campaign, both sides had expended enormous amounts of resources with no gain in territory from that which was occupied on the first day back in April. By November, many of the 25th Battalion men were sick with dysentery or malnourished. Reinforcements were required and Gerry was among the last draft of reinforcements to be sent to Anzac. In the same draft was another Esk man, David Cameron. The decision to abandon the Dardanelles campaign had already been taken and a gradual withdrawal of troops and equipment had begun secretly. Gerry and David stepped ashore at Anzac Cove on 9thDecember to join the ranks of those men of the 25th Battalion who were still fit. The 25th was assigned to beach fatigues while the other three battalions of the 7th Brigade were evacuated. A scheme of several days silence in the front line posts had been instigated to accustom the Turks to the fact that the Australians were preparing for a winter occupation. Gerry was on the peninsula for only ten days and having completed the tasks assigned was evacuated with the rest of the battalion to the island of Lemnos where the 25th went into camp for a prolonged rest. While in rest camp on Lemnos, the men of the battalion received Christmas billies; small billy cans stuffed with items such as socks and handkerchiefs or sweets and nuts. The billies were packed in Australia by one of the many patriotic groups.
 
On 9th January, the battalion relocated to Egypt and went into camp at Tel el Kabir on the Suez Canal. After the abandonment of the Gallipoli campaign, a reorganisation of the AIF was under way in Egypt. The bulk of the force was organised into four divisions comprising infantry, artillery, transport and medical services. The Light Horse, which had been fighting at Gallipoli as ordinary infantry instead of mounted infantry resumed their normal role and was incorporated into the Egyptian Expeditionary Force.
 
The 25th Battalion was an infantry battalion destined for the Western Front but Gerry was reassigned from the infantry to the Imperial Camel Corps based at Abbassia. The corps would comprise four battalions, two Australian, one British and one a combined Australian and New Zealand unit. The men of the ICC had a reputation for rough behaviour which was attributed to the fact that when being formed, commanders of infantry battalions took the opportunity to get rid of troublesome individuals. In the case of Gerry Kelly, his posting probably had more to do with his stock handling ability.
 
In the first instance, the ICC was tasked with dealing with Senussi Tribesman from the Egyptian Western Desert who were in revolt in support of the Ottoman government. The camel battalions patrolled the western desert for up to five days at a time, clashing occasionally with the Senussi. Soon after the corps was formed, Gerry was appointed temporary corporal. While the cameleers were in the desert to Egypt’s west, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force was operating in the Sinai to Egypt’s east. Here the threat was from a predominantly Turkish force supported by German officers and advisors. As this enemy force moved westward along the Sinai’s Mediterranean coast, the EEF moved out across the Suez Canal to protect British interests in Egypt.
 
The Turkish threat to Egypt and the Suez Canal was neutralised in August 1916 when several units of Australian Light Horse, supported by British infantry, defeated the Turkish advance at Romani. From that point on, the EEF would gradually force the attackers back towards the border with Palestine. At the same time, the ICC was switched from operations in the western desert to join in the EEF advance in the Sinai. By then, Gerry had been promoted to corporal. The success of Romani allowed the British to extend both the railway and fresh water pipeline from Kantara on the Suez Canal out into the Sinai. As the EEF moved eastwards, wells and cisterns which had traditionally supplied water in the desert were destroyed to deny the enemy access to water. The EEF consolidated its gains and by the 21stDecember had marched in to the coastal port town of El Arish, which the Turks had abandoned. The next day at El Magdhaba, The ANZAC Mounted Division and ICC fought a decisive battle which effectively caused the Ottoman forces to withdraw entirely from Sinai. El Arish then became an important supply point with rations, equipment and reinforcements moving up by ship or train and sick and wounded being evacuated to Cairo.
 
The Turks had abandoned Sinai but were still in possession of Palestine. In early 1917, the Turks withdrew from Rafa on the Palestinian border to established fortifications which stretched from the city of Gaza south east to the town of Beersheba. It was on this line that they would make a stand. The British, buoyed by the success at El Arish and Magdhaba, planned a frontal attack on the Gaza line for the 26nd March 1917. The British infantry struggled against the defenders but the Light Horse were in possession of the high ground when the battle commander, Dobell, fearing that he would not have possession of water resources, ordered the Light Horse to withdraw. Realising his error after speaking with the mounted officers, the attack was renewed but by then reinforcements had bolstered the defensive line and the attack was unsuccessful.
 
Dobell planned for a second attack against Gaza for 17th April. On the second occasion, tanks and poison gas would be added to the armoury. The ICC, as part of the Desert Mounted Division had the task of attacking on foot against a number of redoubts on the forward line. The new posts were held until a Turkish counterattack drove the Australians out, beating a hasty retreat and leaving their dead behind. One of the dead was Gerry Kelly. He had just been promoted to sergeant.
 
Gerry’s mother, by then a widow as Malachi had died the previous year, received a few small possessions belonging to her son. Gerry’s younger brother, Reginald was killed in action the following year. Mary, a widow with two dead sons was granted a pension of £2/13/9d per fortnight.
 
Gerry’s body was never recovered. His commemorated on the walls of the Jerusalem War Memorial in the Jerusalem War Cemetery.