MCCOOEY, Theodore Joseph
| Service Number: | 2787 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 April 1916, Enlisted at Sports Ground, Moore Park, Sydney |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 54th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales Australia , 3 April 1896 |
| Home Town: | Auburn, Auburn, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Locomotive Workshop "Shop Boy" |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 31 March 1917, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Pozières British Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Haymarket New Loco Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2787, 54th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Sports Ground, Moore Park, Sydney | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 2787, 54th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 2787, 54th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney | |
| 30 Mar 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2787, 54th Infantry Battalion, Wounded with injury to chest, Taken to 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Station, died the next day. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Theodore Joseph MCCOOEY (Service Number 2787) was born on 3rd April 1896 in Sydney. He first worked for the NSW Government Railways as a call boy at Picton Locomotive Depot from 3rd April 1912, his sixteenth birthday. He remained in this role for three years and then moved to Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops as a shop boy. It was from this role that he was released on 17th April 1916 to join the Expeditionary Forces. He enlisted the same day at the ‘Sports Ground’ and being unmarried nominated his mother as next of kin.
He embarked HMAT ‘Ceramic’ at Sydney on 7th October 1916, reached Plymouth (England) on 21st November and was attached to the 14th Training Battalion for a month. In December he embarked SS ‘Princess Victoria’ at Folkestone, proceeded to France and was taken on the strength of the 54th Battalion on 6th February 1917. Later in that month he was admitted to hospital, sick with pyorrhoea and it was not until 13th March that he was fit again.
It was on the 30th March that he was wounded with a penetrating injury to his chest. He was admitted to the 15th Australian Field Ambulance, and then the 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Station. He died the next day, 31st March 1917. Sgt-Maj C R Hawke (2422) reported:
‘He was wounded at Morchies on March 30th in the stomach. I saw him after he was hit and saw him taken out to the D/S. Subsequently we had word he had D/W on March 31st in the operating centre at Pozières which was situated near the railway station there.’
McCooey was buried in the Pozières British Cemetery on the Albert-Bapaume Road ½ mile SW of Pozières 3¼ miles NE of Albert.
A pension of 26/- was granted to McCooey’s mother Mary Ann.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
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