S571
O'DONNELL, John Patrick
| Service Number: | 581 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Tullow, County Carlow, Ireland, 19 December 1890 |
| Home Town: | Balaklava, Wakefield, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bank Clerk |
| Died: | Adelaide, South Australia, 7 March 1982, aged 91 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Enfield Memorial Park, South Australia Burial: 10/03/1982; Grave Location: Area-Roman Catholic/Row-AT/Site No. 49. Other Interments: John James O'Donnell & Elizabeth Margaret O'Donnell. |
| Memorials: | Balaklava District WW1 Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 581, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 581, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Adelaide | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 581, 10th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 1 Mar 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Corporal, 581, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
| 12 Aug 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Corporal, 581, 10th Infantry Battalion, 4th MD |
Corporal John Patrick O'Donnell
From Irish Regiments of World War One
Corporal John Patrick O'Donnell. 10th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Australian Imperial Force.
John P. O'Donnell was born in County Carlow in 1890.He served in the Australian army first fighting at Gallipoli and landing with the first wave of forces on 25 April 1915. He later fought in France and seen action at the Battle of the Somme. In 1918 he was invalided home, during which time he wrote the last six poems of his only collection, dealing with the war from the perspective of an Australian. His brother Tom was killed in action in September 1917 while serving with the AIF.
Submitted 16 May 2019 by Evan Evans
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Author, 'Songs of an Anzac' [war poems] (Dublin: Browne & Nolan, 1918)
Next of kin-Mother, Mrs Elizabeth M O'Donnell, c/o National Bank Ltd, Carlow, County Carlow, Ireland
Returned to Australia 12 June 1919
Discharge date-12 August 1919
War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front
His brother Private Thomas Henry O'Donnell was Killed in Action 28 September 1917 at Ypres.
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From Australian Great War Poetry
I haven’t posted in a while, so here’s a nice bit of verse from Corporal John Patrick O'Donnell. 10th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Australian Imperial Force. John’s brother, Thomas Henry, did not enlist until 1916 and served in a different battalion in the same regiment as his brother. It is believed that they met briefly in France in 1917 but sadly Thomas Henry died at Westhoek, Flanders on 28 September 1917. While recuperating from war wounds in Netley hospital in Hampshire in the UK in 1918 O’Donnell wrote the following poem in memory of his twin and the concluding lines recall their emigrant life in Australia and the sacrifice of many in the war to end all wars.
To Tom
By Corporal John Patrick O'Donnell
Do you recall way back on sunny shores,
The grand old gumtrees by McCarthy’s creek;
The Kookoburas laughing in the trees,
And all the world asleep.
Sometimes I think I hear your merry laugh,
As down the gully distant hoofs drew nigh,
And all around the wondrous tropic night
And starry sky.
But when again the Spring in France shall break,
With scarlet poppy and wild Somme flowers,
Perchance some little sky lark’s note shall shake
Departing Winter’s stillness in the bowers.
And when the tempest of my life is o’er,
And night draws nigh – may I so hope to chance
To sleep as peaceful, when my Spring shall break,
As those who fell for France.
From AIF Project:
Author, 'Songs of an Anzac' [war poems] (Dublin: Browne & Nolan, 1918)
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