O'CONNOR, Maurice
| Service Number: | 3606 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 March 1916, Killed in action. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 56th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 9 April 1896 |
| Home Town: | Surry Hills, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer with Tramways |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 26 September 1917, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3606, 56th Infantry Battalion, Killed in action. | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 3606, 30th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ballarat embarkation_ship_number: A70 public_note: '' | |
| 5 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 3606, 30th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ballarat, Sydney | |
| 26 Sep 1917: | Involvement Private, 3606, 56th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3606 awm_unit: 56th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-09-26 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Maurice O'CONNOR (Service Number 3606) was born on 9th April 1896 at Redfern. He first worked for the NSW Tramways as a shop boy at Sydney from 31st May 1915.
O’Connor’s Attestation Papers show that he enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds at Moore Park in Sydney on 9th March 1916. He gave his father as his next of kin, and claimed to be 21-years-old, though he was in fact still 19. He also claimed 2½ years in the Militia, where he was still serving. He embarked HMAT ‘Ballarat’ at Sydney on 5th August 1916 and reached Plymouth on 30th September. Six weeks later he proceeded overseas to France aboard SS ‘Onward’ and was taken on the strength of the 56th Battalion on 1st December. In February 1917 he contracted Influenza and was admitted to the 15th Australian Field Ambulance and then sent to the 5th Divisional Rest Station. It was 5th March before he re-joined his unit.
He was killed in action on 26 September 1917, in France or Belgium, for that is what the Army Form B.20290A records.
He has no known grave. However, he is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres, Belgium.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.