O'KEEFE, Cornelius
| Service Number: | 3394 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 November 1916, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showground, Moore Park, Sydney. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia, 10 July 1894 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Shunter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 4 October 1917, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Nov 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3394, 1st Pioneer Battalion, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showground, Moore Park, Sydney. | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, 3394, 1st Pioneer Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Beltana embarkation_ship_number: A72 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Nov 1916: | Embarked Private, 3394, 1st Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Beltana, Sydney | |
| 4 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 3394, 4th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3394 awm_unit: 4th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-10-04 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Cornelius O'KEEFE (Service Number 3394) was born on 10th July 1894 at Murwillumbah. He began working for the NSW Government Railways as a temporary junior porter in the Traffic Branch in the Sydney District on 2nd June 1913. His job designation was upgraded to porter on his 21st birthday in 1915. He was relocated to the Newcastle District. A fortnight later he became a 3rd class shunter. At the end of September 1915, he returned to Sydney as a porter. On 19th August 1916 he progressed to 3rd class shunter in Sydney.
On 30th October he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces.
O’Keefe enlisted at the Show Ground Camp, Sydney, on 2nd November. He claimed 3½ years apprenticeship in Brisbane with M Leyden but did not specify the trade. His ‘trade or calling’ is given as his railway role of ‘Shunter’. His father, living in Bowen Hills, Queensland was given as his next of kin.
He was allotted to the 1st Australian Pioneer Battalion. O’Keefe embarked HMAT ‘Beltana’ at Sydney on 25th November 1916. The ship reached Devonport on 19th January 1917 and O’Keefe joined the Pioneer Training Battalion. In March he was transferred (sick) to the 1st Australian Division Hospital at Bulford because he had contracted venereal disease. Treatment of this condition required 19 days. The next two months were spent at Convalescent and Command Depots until he returned to Bulford with eithera new infection, or a recurrence of the old one. Treatment this time took only eight days.
On 11th July 1917 O’Keefe joined the 1st Training Battalion at Durrington and then the Engineer Training Battalion at Fovant. He proceeded overseas to France through Southampton on 4th September and was taken on the strength of the 4th Pioneer Battalion on 25th September. Nine days later he was posted missing in action in Belgium. A Court of Enquiry held five months later determined that he had been killed on that day. Pte W E Dunne stated, in answer to a query about the fate of three men:
‘I knew them all well. They were all 3 missing in the attack in front of Ypres on that day and I believe they were all 3 together. It is quite impossible for them to have got into the German line because of the barrage. We held the objective and the ground was well searched. Enquiries were made at the D[ressing]/S[tation]s and we were asked on parade to give any information we could about them but none was forthcoming and we can only think that they were blown to pieces or buried. It was very muddy’
As he has no known grave, Cornelius O’Keefe is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
His railway employment record card includes a 1921 note that:
‘Overpayment of £18.15.0 made to mother while on active service. Amount to be written off.’
The Railways were not going to pursue an old woman, Minnie O’Keefe, who had lost her son and who was living on a pension of £1/10/- per fortnight, justified by his war service, for a few pounds.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.