Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Address at the time of enlistment was 50 Douglas Street, Redfern, NSW

Son of Patrick McKenna of Howard, QLD

Brother of:-

A.D. McKenna of Cairns, QLD

Francis Michael McKenna who returned to Australia on 17 March 1917 having served with the 13th Light Trench Mortar Battery

Henry Francis McKenna who returned to Australia on 17 March 1916 having served with the 15th Battalion

Patrick McKenna who returned to Australia on 5 March 1919 having served with the Australian Employment Company

Hamilton Joseph McKenna who was killed in action on 3 September 1918 while serving with the British Army's 2nd Grenadier Guards Battalion and was buried in Mont Huon Military Cemetery. Plot V11, Row F, Grave 5A

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Previousl served with the Wylestray Volunteer Regiment for 6 years

#498 McKENNA David Peter   1st Infantry Battalion

David McKenna was born at Howard into a large family that included 6 boys. David’s father, Patrick, gave his address as Post Office, Howard. His mother had died in 1896 and his father had remarried, perhaps to Bella McCalla who was the mother of William McCalla who is listed on the Howard memorial. David probably attended Howard State School and served 6 years in the Wide Bay Regiment, part of the Compulsory Military Training that was required of all young men of a certain age.

Before the outbreak of war, David had moved to Sydney where he worked as a labourer, living in Douglas Street in Redfern. When he presented himself at the recruiting depot in Sydney on 31st August 1914, he was 23 years old. David presented as the ideal recruit. He was 6’1” tall (probably too tall to be a coal miner in Howard) and weighed a healthy 13 stone. In addition he was well versed in military procedures due to his time in the citizen forces.

David was drafted into the first battalion to have been raised in the AIF, the 1st Infantry Battalion which would form part of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division AIF. The battalion which was comprised almost exclusively of men from Sydney, was in camp at Kensington Racecourse while engaging in some preliminary training which mainly consisted of route marches. On 18th October 1914, the battalion boarded the transport “Afric” and sailed for Albany in Western Australia to await the other transports that would sail in convoy to Egypt under escort by an Australian and a Japanese warship.

The convoy arrived at Suez at the entrance to the Suez Canal on 1st December, reaching Port Said two days later and then sailing on to the port of Alexandria where the troops disembarked. On the wharf were trains that would transport the troops to the outskirts of Cairo where the 1st Division would be camped, within sight of the pyramids.

Training continued with the usual route marches, often all day affairs with water restricted to one canteen. By March of 1915, planning was in place for the formation of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, under British General Ian Hamilton. Hamilton appointed General William Birdwood to command the Australian and New Zealand forces who would land on the Gallipoli Peninsula near Gaba Tepe on 25th April 1915.

On 4th April, the 1st Battalion left camp at Mena and took trains to the docks at Alexandria where they boarded the “Minnewaska” and sailed for Mudros Harbour on the Greek Island of Lemnos. There were no camp facilities at Mudros and the men remained on board, practicing boat drills during the day. On the evening of the 24th April, the transports carrying the men of the three brigades of the 1st Division sailed out and headed towards the Turkish shore. The 3rd Brigade was the first ashore. When the 1st Brigade landed later in the morning, they were tasked with supporting units of the 3rd Brigade which were establishing a line along the ridge line above the beach. The first few days at Anzac were a time when both sides were looking for an advantage. On 19th May, the German General in charge on the Gallipoli Peninsula ordered an offensive against the entire Australian and New Zealand line with the intention of driving the invaders into the sea. The Turks charged downhill without the support of artillery and were met with fierce resistance by the Anzacs, so much so that some witnesses described the wood on their rifles being too hot to touch. During one of the Turkish charges, David McKenna was wounded and evacuated to the island of Imbros, within sight of the Anzac beach head. A few weeks later, those members of the 1st Battalion who were still able to man the front line were relieved for a short rest on Imbros as well. The battalion re-entered the battle on Gallipoli in early July.

It was fairly evident to those in command that the stalemate that had become Anzac would eventually favour the Turks. Hamilton was convinced that if he could break out of the Anzac beach head, his objectives could be achieved. His plan was to use the 4th Infantry Brigade and a New Zealand Brigade to encircle Turkish positions on the heights of the Sari Bair Ridge to the north of the Australian positions. To distract the Turks on the high ground from the encircling Anzacs to the north, a series of feints or diversionary attacks would be staged in the south; one of which was a daylight attack against a position which the Australians called Lone Pine.

Lone Pine was in fact a small flat plateau with the opposing sides facing each other across a piece of flat ground known as the daisy patch. The Turks had covered the first two lines of trenches with logs and soil as a defence against shrapnel. The Australian line was held by units from the 1st Brigade AIF on the precarious edge of the plateau. Tunnels had been dug from the Anzac position under the daisy patch and an underground trench was dug. At zero hour, the Australians would pour out of the underground galleries and tunnels and charge towards the Turks.

The Battle for Lone Pine lasted for four days from 6th August to the 9th August and was epitomised by the extent of hand to hand fighting that ensued in the covered Turkish trenches. In those four days, the 1st Brigade suffered 2277 casualties, of which over 800 were killed. Of all the actions planned for the August offensives, Lone Pine was the only one to have been a success.

David McKenna’s file records he was killed in action 6-9th August 1915. The records were unable to be more precise, due mainly to the intensity of the fighting which went on continually for those four days. Additionally, almost all the junior officers were wounded or killed and there was a breakdown in leadership. Nine Victoria Crosses were awarded to Australians at Gallipoli, seven of them for the actions at Lone Pine. Anecdotal comments from the time suggest that many more acts of bravery would have been recognised if there were any officers to recommend the soldier concerned. The confusion of Lone Pine prevented any burials during those four days and it is unknown what happened to David.

When Anzac was abandoned in December of 1915, the aftermath of the Lone Pine battle was left to slowly return to its natural state. The Australian contingent which came to Anzac in 1919 to search for lost graves realised that very few of those killed and missing would ever be located. The Lone Pine Memorial was constructed on the site of the Lone Pine Battle, with the northern and southern walls delineating the positions of the respective front lines. The walls of the memorial commemorate the almost 5000 Australian and New Zealand servicemen who died in the Dardenelles campaign and have no know grave. David McKenna is listed on the 1st Battalion panel.