Errol Vincent CLEARY

CLEARY, Errol Vincent

Service Numbers: 719, 2056
Enlisted: 10 February 1915
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 15th Infantry Battalion
Born: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 8 September 1891
Home Town: Hobart, Tasmania
Schooling: St Marys Boys School, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Occupation: Mechanic
Died: Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 7 August 1915, aged 23 years
Cemetery: No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Hobart Roll of Honour, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing
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World War 1 Service

22 Dec 1914: Involvement 719, 13th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: ''
22 Dec 1914: Embarked 719, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne
10 Feb 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2056, 15th Infantry Battalion
7 Aug 1915: Involvement Private, 2056, 15th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2056 awm_unit: 15th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1915-08-07

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Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks

2056 Private Errol Vincent Cleary 15th Battalion AIF is down on the nominal roll as having embarked with the original G Company of the 13th Battalion, however for some reason he never left Australia and he enlisted again in February 1915, and left Australia in April 1915 with the 15th Battalion. He was killed in action on the 7 August 1915 during the 4th Brigade’s attack on Hill 971. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Lone Pine Memorial. He was almost 24 years old and his parents lived at 6 Mary St., North Hobart Tasmania.

His older brother, 182 Sergeant Wyn Howard Cleary M.M. 1st Brigade Australian Field Artillery AIF had enlisted in August 1914 and saw much service, including winning a decoration for bravery at Ypres in 1917. He was badly hit in both legs by shrapnel on the 21 April 1918 and died two days later.

Their father, 2592A Sapper William Frederick Cleary M.M. 3rd Field Company Engineers AIF, had also enlisted in August 1915, only a week after his youngest son’s death at Gallipoli. He gave his age as 44 years and 10 months, and left Australia in late 1915.  He was also awarded the Military Medal for rescuing wounded men at Menin Road during 1917.

Within a few weeks of his last son’s death, William Cleary wrote to his commanding officer asked to be sent home on the grounds his two sons had been killed in action. Within three months, William Cleary was returned safely to Australia, where he attended to his sons affairs.

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