Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From Balmoral Cemetery, Brisbane - WWI soldiers from WWI in unmarked graves

Cpl Kenneth Clyde McKenzie 483

Kenneth was born 1891 in Cobargo in NSW to parents William Herbert Keily and Sarah Elizabeth (nee Sawtell) McKenzie. His father passed away in 1913 at Grantham. After the death of his father, his mother moved to Marrickville in Sydney.
Kenneth, a carpenter, initially was rejected by the military but eventually he enlisted as a Private on 3 November 1915 in Unit 41st Battalion B Company.

His unit embarked on HMAT A64 Demosthenes from Sydney on 18 May 1916. He disembarked at Plymouth in July 1916 and proceeded to France in November.

Kenneth was wounded by a gun shot wound to the abdomen on 10 January 1917. In May after being discharged from the Colchester General Military Hospital, he was assigned to No. 1 Command Post Perham Downs.

Kenneth returned to Rouevelles France in July 1917 rejoining the 41stBattalion. In December 1917 he was treated for appendicitis. In July 1918 he was wounded again, sustaining severe shrapnel wounds to both his buttock and elbow. He was sent to England for treatment at the Fulham Military Hospital at Hammersmith.
After being discharged from hospital in August 1918, he was assigned to No. 1 Command Depot Sutton Veny and then to Headquarters A.I.F. Depots in the United Kingdom. On two separate occasions during 1919 Kenneth was admitted to hospital for gastritis and myalgia. He left England in November 1919 aboard the HT Nestor disembarking Melbourne on 15 December 1919. He was discharged on 12 March 1920, medically unfit, due to an injury to his “curvical vertibrae”.

After serving for over four years, Kenneth received the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Kenneth married Julia Josephine Lyne in Brisbane on 21 October 1920. Their daughter, Florence May was born in 1922 and was followed by twins Donald Clyve and Allan McKenna in c1923 Two further children followed; William Douglas in c1926 and Yvonne Jean c1933.

By 1925 Kenneth and Julia were residing at the Mt Gravatt Soldiers Settlement where Kenneth was poultry farming. This was a short lived venture and by 1928 Kenneth had returned to carpentry and had moved to Green Terrace, Windsor and later to Chatsworth Road, Greenslopes. In 1938 their daughter Florence May passed away at the age of 16 years and was laid to rest in Balmoral Cemetery in Section 7 Plot 326.

Kenneth died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 14 June 1944 in Rosemount Hospital. He was 53 and was laid to rest with his daughter. His grave is unmarked in Balmoral Cemetery.
At the time of his death his children Donald and Alan were 21 years of age, William was 15 and Yvonne 11 years old.

Twins Donald and Allan both served in the Second World War, Donald Clyde served in the AIF in Solomon Islands and Darwin. Whilst Allan McKenna served in the Navy. Donald lived for many years at Mt Gravatt and worked as a carpenter.

Allan married Elsie May Ryan and worked as a plumber initially living at Norman Park then Bracken Ridge and Margate. He died on 20 June 1980 and is buried at Pinaroo Cemetery.

Julia passed away aged 67 in 1965, her ashes are at Mt Thompson.

FOBC would like to contact relatives to assist them in applying to Department of Veterans Affairs to determine if Kenneth Clyde McKenzie is eligible for official commemoration such as a Commonwealth War Grave. Please contact by replying to this post or [email protected] or [email protected]