HARRINGTON, Michael Joseph
| Service Number: | 2146 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 July 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Summer Hill, New South Wales, Australia, 9 July 1888 |
| Home Town: | Summer Hill, Ashfield, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Locomotive Fireman and Fitter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 26 July 1916, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2146, 17th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 2146, 17th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2146, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Argyllshire, Sydney |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
Michael Joseph HARRINGTON, (Service Number 2146) was born on 9 July 1888 at Summer Hill. He commenced working for the NSW Tramways as a shop boy in the Electrical Branch at Randwick in 1905. In January 1906 he transferred to the Railways at Eveleigh, becoming a junior labourer on his 21st birthday in 1909, then a fitters’ labourer, a cleaner and a fireman before the end of 1911. He did not progress beyond fireman and in August 1912 he was again designated as a labourer, and then a fitters’ labourer and it was from this role that he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces in June 1915.
He enlisted at Liverpool on 6 July 1915, and being unmarried, gave his widowed mother as his next of kin.
He was killed in action on 26 July 1916. He was buried in the vicinity of Pozières near Albert, though the location of this grave is lost, and he is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
‘Just about 15 minutes before being relieved a shell exploded over our heads and a piece of it struck Harrington on the head through his helmet and took away half his skull. He was close to me at the time and we dug a grave in a shell hole behind our trench in Munster Valley and buried him there. We made a cross with his name on it in indelible pencil, but not having time to erect it we handed it over to the relief for that purpose.’ Pte Roderick McLean (268)
Submitted 29 August 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Michael Joseph HARRINGTON (Service Number 2146) was born on 9th July 1888 at Summer Hill. He commenced working for the NSW Tramways as a shop boy in the Electrical Branch at Randwick in 1905. In January 1906 he transferred to the Railways at Eveleigh, becoming a junior labourer on his 21st birthday in 1909, then a fitters’ labourer, a cleaner and a fireman before the end of 1911. He did not progress beyond fireman and in August 1912 he was again designated as a labourer, and then a fitters’ labourer. It was from this role that he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces in June 1915.
He enlisted at Liverpool on 6th July 1915, and being unmarried, gave his widowed mother as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 17th Battalion.
He left Australia from Sydney on HMAT ‘Argyllshire’ on 30th September 1915. He was taken on the strength of the Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir (Egypt) on 1st January 1916. After further training he embarked for France at Alexandria, and passed through Marseilles on 23rd March.
He was killed in action on 26th July 1916. He was buried in the vicinity of Pozières near Albert but the location of this grave is lost. He is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
‘Just about 15 minutes before being relieved a shell exploded over our heads and a piece of it struck Harrington on the head through his helmet and took away half his skull. He was close to me at the time and we dug a grave in a shell hole behind our trench in Munster Valley and buried him there. We made a cross with his name on it in indelible pencil, but not having time to erect it we handed it over to the relief for that purpose.’ Pte Roderick McLean (268)
- based on notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board