DOWLING, Michael Joseph
| Service Number: | 858 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 37th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Carlton, Victoria, Australia, 1878 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Asylum Attendant |
| Died: | Caulfield, Victoria, Australia, 5 August 1927, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Brighton General Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Jun 1916: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 858, 37th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Persic embarkation_ship_number: A34 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Jun 1916: | Embarked Lance Corporal, 858, 37th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Persic, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Sam Black
Michael Joseph Dowling was the son of Patrick Dowling, a police officer, and Katherine "Kate" Dowling (née O'Brien), and born about 1878 in Carlton. Michael had seven siblings: William, Patrick, Arthur, Mary, Catherine, Dennis, and Peter.
By the mid-1900s, Michael was working as an asylum clerk. On the 28th of February 1916, Michael enlisted in the Australian Army at Melbourne. He was described as 5 feet 7.5 inches, and 137 pounds, with a fresh complexion, brown eyes, and brown hair.
He was promoted to Lance Corporal in May 1916, and left for Europe in September. In October 1917, he was in a military hospital. There, it was discovered he had rheumatoid arthritis in his left knee, and he was made to return to Australia in January 1918. Throughout 1918, he was absent without leave a number of times.
After the war, Michael began residing at Mont Park, a mental hospital in Macleod. He died there on the 5th of August 1927, aged about forty-nine.