Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

James Gladstone Fennessy was born on 26 June 1895 in Brunswick East, Victoria, to James Fennessy and Mary Elizabeth (Maloney) Fennessy. On 19 August 1912, James Gladstone enlisted for seven years in the newly established Royal Australian Navy and undertook his initial training at the Flinders Naval Depot. On completion of initial training, Ordinary Seaman Second Class Fennessy joined the Cruiser and Training Ship HMAS Encounter on 24 Nov 1912. Navy life did not suit James Gladstone and he went absent without leave (AWOL) in 1913. A warrant was issued for his apprehension and on capture he was punished on 20 June 1913 with five days in cells in Melbourne before being discharged three months later. He left the RAN on 10 September 1913 with the rank as Ordinary Seaman. On the outbreak of World War 1, James Gladstone, now with the occupation as a Stockman, joined the 4th Light Horse Regiment B Squadron in North Fitzroy on 10 September 1914. The 4th Light Horse Regiment was raised, from recruits from Victoria in August 1914 and was one of three regiments of the 4th Light Horse Brigade. The regiment sailed from Melbourne on 18th October, 1914, on the transport ship A18 Wiltshire and disembarked in Egypt on the 10th December 1914. The 4th Light Horse were considered unsuitable for the initial operations at Gallipoli, but were subsequently deployed without their horses to reinforce the infantry. The 4th Light Horse Regiment landed on 22 and 24 May 1915 and its squadrons were initially scattered to reinforce the infantry battalions already ashore. The regiment was not reunited until 11 June 1915. Much of the regiment’s time at Gallipoli was spent defending the precarious ANZAC position, most frequently around Ryrie’s Post, but its squadrons were involved in several minor attacks. James Gladstone Fennessy was returned to Australia from Active Service in Gallipoli, after receiving shrapnel wounding to the apex of the left elbow and head at Chatham’s Post, Gallipoli, on 22 August 1915. He was sent to Malta and subsequently contracted pulmonary tuberculosis. He arrived back in Australia on the 2nd hospital ship ‘Konowna’ on 22 November 1915. He was discharged from the Australian Army on 25 May 1916 and returned to his parent’s home in Fitzroy North, Victoria. After a period as a Labourer, James Gladstone became a Munitions Worker in Maribyrnong, an occupation that he would hold for the rest of his working life. From the outbreak of World War 2 he resided in Moonee Ponds, Victoria. James Gladstone Fennessy never married and on 22 December 1957 he died in Moonee Ponds, aged 62 years.