CASKEY, Lachlan John
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Clifton, Queensland, Australia, 29 May 1870 |
| Home Town: | Clifton, Toowoomba, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Spring Creek State School, Australia |
| Occupation: | School Teacher |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Mokari Drift, Caledon River, South Africa, 27 September 1901, aged 31 years |
| Cemetery: |
Vanstadensrus Municipal Cemetery, Free State, South Africa |
| Memorials: | Allora Boer War Memorial, Allora Caskey Memorial Tablet, Anzac Square Boer War Memorial |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Lieutenant | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Dec 1901: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, London Gazette 3 December 1901 on page 8545 at position 1. |
Help us honour Lachlan John Caskey's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Maurice Kissane
Lachlan John Caskey was known as Jack. He was born in Queensland in 1870. The son of Thomas and Margery Caskey. Jack was well educated and had seven siblings. He father died when he was five. Hence his mother ensured that Jack completed his education.
He worked as a School Teacher. Jack was very active in the Teachers Union. However, he volunteered to fight for the Empire. For he had been a School Cadet. Hence he saw it as his duty to fight for the Empire.
Jack was commisioned as a Lieutenant in the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen. Enlisting a few days after the death of HM Queen Victoria. Jack did not survive the war. For a mere seven months after his beloved Queen and Empress Victoria died, Jack was KIA. His poshumous M.I.D. was published in the London Gazette, ten weeks after his death in combat.
His mother described herself and his siblings as being wounded by his untimely death. For Jack was in the prime of his life. His heart broken mother ensured that her son had an inscribed stone memorial cross on his grave in South Africa. His comrades likewise ensured that he had an impressive Boer War Obelisk Memorial Toowong Cemetery in Brisbane. This was dedicated in May 1902, coinciding with the Peace Treaty. The 1902 Caskey Memorial is believed to be the first Boer War Obelisk Memorial so dedicated in Queensland.
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