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O'BRIEN, John Thomas
| Service Number: | 2212 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 May 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Peterborough (Formerly Petersburg), South Australia, 24 September 1887 |
| Home Town: | Peterborough (Formerly Petersburg), South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Suicide, Port Lincoln, South Australia, 13 July 1920, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Treasurer and Chief Secretary Roll of Honour, Peterborough St Anacletus Catholic Church Honour Board WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 31 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2212, 27th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 2212, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of England embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 21 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2212, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Star of England, Adelaide |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
John Thomas O’Brien
Older brother of Patrick Coleman O'Brien (died of wounds in France 30 July 1916) was born on 24 September 1887 at Peterborough. He enlisted at Keswick on 31 May 1915 at Keswick. He had been working as an orderly at the Port Lincoln Hospital.
Service no 2212. He fought at the Somme and was wounded several times, the most serious on 29 August 1918. He was admitted to Hospital in Rouen with a compound fracture of the upper third of his right femur. He was returned to Australia in 1919, discharged to his mother in Peterborough on 29 July 1919, assessed as being 50% disabled. He returned to work at the Port Lincoln Hospital but jumped from the Port Lincoln jetty in July 1920. The newspaper report at the time says in part ‘while abroad he suffered severely, from the effects of which he never fully recovered’
He was interred in the St Mary of the Angel cemetery in Port Lincoln in an unmarked grave. Suicide was a sin. More recently, a resident priest undertook to identify those in unmarked graves and he now has a headstone. - Great Niece