KENNEDY, John Rupert Wilfred
| Service Number: | 2193 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 February 1916, Townsville, Qld. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 47th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Winton, Queensland, Australia, 17 April 1891 |
| Home Town: | Richmond (Q), Richmond, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Motor Driver |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Queensland, Australia, 16 March 1975, aged 83 years |
| Cemetery: |
Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery, Queensland PLAW1A-004-0026 |
| Memorials: | Winton & District Roll of Honour WW1, Winton Waltzing Matilda Centre Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2193, 47th Infantry Battalion, Townsville, Qld. | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 2193, 47th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Boorara embarkation_ship_number: A42 public_note: '' | |
| 16 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 2193, 47th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Boorara, Brisbane |
Help us honour John Rupert Wilfred Kennedy's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of John Francis KENNEDY and Frances Mary Hall KENNEDY nee WILSON, Oxley Street, North Ward, Townsville, Queensland
His father died a week after he had enlisted in February 1916.
Seriously wounded with gunshot wound to the face 28 March 1918. He returned to Australia 8 February 1919 and was discharged 11 April 1919.
In 1919 a sub branch of the Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia was formed in Winton, with Jack Kennedy being elected Hon. Secretary.
In early December 1919 Jack married Essie Bingham in St. Paul's Church in Winton. Over the years he was involved in many district organisations and served as Shire Chairman from 1930-1934.
Jack managed Moscow for the McMasters until 1921, then formed the Commecial Carrying Co. in Winton in partnership with army mates Bazil quartermaine and Jim Laurence. Together they ran a fleet of lorries anywhere from Longreach to Julia Creek, as part of the move towards mechanisation, so evident after the war. In 1929 he purchased a share in Winton Stores, in partnership with Leonard Herbert Robinson, a British Army veteran, and they renamed the store as Robinson & Kennedy. The drought and Depression brought hardship to many businesses, and in 1937 Jack sold his share in the store to Leonard Robinson, who died in 1939.
Jack and his wife Essie, moved to Toowoomba in 1937 and Jack obtained a position as secretary of the Toowoomba Sub-Branch of the RSSILA. In 1946 he became secretary of the Western District Branch and devoted much of his life to the welfare of veterans throught the Southern Qld. region until his death in 1975.
He was a brother to CNM Kennedy 652 and Jes Kennedy, Sister AANS.
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