GAVEGAN, Val
| Service Numbers: | 3810, 3180 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Bollon, Queensland, Australia, 26 November 1891 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Brisbane Central Boys State School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Telegraph Line Repairman |
| Died: | Southport, Queensland, Australia, 5 December 1976, aged 85 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Queensland Garden of Remembrance (Pinnaroo), Qld |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3810, 2nd Pioneer Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3810, 25th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3810, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Brisbane | |
| 20 Apr 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 3180 | |
| 27 Jan 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Corporal, 3810, 2nd Pioneer Battalion, per HMAT Burmah | |
| 28 Mar 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Corporal, 3810, 2nd Pioneer Battalion |
Helping a Mate
The following information on Val Gavegan was from the writings of Virgil Warwick Oxenham who served with Val and is on the back of a large Studio Photograph of his brother Harold Nelson Oxenham dressed in his Army uniform and taken in 1915. Val, Virgil and Harold all enlisted in the 25th Battalion and then transferred to the 2nd Pioneer Battalion in Egypt prior to embarking for France.
On the morning of 14th November'16 attacked the German line
overlooking Flers Tank and Aeroplane trenches to the left of the
Butte de Warlincourt with 19th Battalion captured two lines of
trenches but owing to failure of the Northumberland Fusiliers to take
their objective (which was almost an impossibility in any case) our
objective had to be evacuated later. Had a number of casualties.
Platoon Officer Mccloskey had bad ankle wound and Harold and Vic
Gavegan got him back to our old front line trench where he was again
shot in the throat by a sniper but survived to return to Australia minus
a foot. Whilst Harold and Gavy were getting our old pal Harry Stumm
of Pittsworth back into the trench a sniper shot Harold through the
back which must have gone through his kidney and also hit Gavy
through the steel helmet but that did not do his head the slightest
damage although it ripped open his steel helmet. Harold died there
and Harry Stumm was taken as far as the Ribemont where he died in
the field Hospital. Owing to the wet conditions and terrible mud it was
very difficult to move oneself. Conditions were something
indescribable.
Submitted 29 November 2025 by David Oxenham
Submitted 29 November 2025 by David Oxenham
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
Val Delorme Gavegan was the 4th of 13 children of Francis Joseph Gavegan and Alice Maude Kay. Val was born in 1891 in Bollon, QLD and was employed as a Telegraph Repair Linesman when he enlisted in the AIF in Hughenden, QLD in 1915. Val serv ed with the 2nd Pioneer Battallion until his Medical Discharge in 1919 - he had received severe Gun Shot Wounds to an arm and both legs in France in 1918.
Val's brothers Percy and John served in the Australian Defence Forces. On his return from WWI, Val lived in Brisbane, QLD and worked as a Labourer, Meat Worker and Furnaceman until his death in 1976 in Southport, QLD
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