KELEHER, James Martin
| Service Number: | 2696 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 August 1915, Enlisted at Warwick Farm. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bowral, New South Wales, Australia, February 1898 |
| Home Town: | Bowral, Wingecarribee, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Worker |
| Died: | Killed in action, Pozieres, France, 25 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2696, 18th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Warwick Farm. | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 2696, 18th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 2696, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 25 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 2696, 3rd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2696 awm_unit: 3 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-07-25 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
James Martin KELEHER (Service Number 2696) was born in Bowral about May 1897. He enlisted at Warwick Farm on 11th August 1915 citing military experience in the Senior Cadets and giving his mother Mary Keleher as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 6th Reinforcements to the 18th Battalion.
He embarked HMAT ‘Euripides’ at Sydney on 2nd November 1915and sailed to Egypt.
He was admitted to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital in Cairo on 23rd December 1915 with Influenza. He was later taken on strength of the 18th Battalion but transferred to the 3rd Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir on 14th February.
On 22nd March 1916 Keleher embarked on HMT ‘Grampian’ at Alexandria for passage to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France, passing through Marseilles on 28th March.
He was killed in action on 25th July 1916 and was buried in the vicinity of Pozières. The location of his grave has been lost. He is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
James Martin Keleher was the son of John and Mary Keleher, of Bowral, New South Wales. He was one of four brothers who enlisted and served in WW1.
James enlisted with his twin brother, Joseph Francis Keleher during November 1915, about four months before their 18th birthday. Joseph was wounded the same day as James died.
Their father, John Keleher, passed away in Bowral during February 1917.
Mrs. Keleher wrote to General Birdwood, General Officer Commanding of the AIF shortly afterwards asking for the return of her youngest son, Joseph Keleher, and eventually he was sent home just before Christmas 1917.
Another brother, 2487 Lance Corporal Thomas Keleher 57th Battalion AIF, was killed in action in Belgium on 25 October 1917, aged 28.
A fourth member of the family, 685 Private Michael Hugh Keleher 41st Battalion AIF, was twice wounded in 1918 and returned to Australia in 1919.
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