Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Robert O’Neill Kelly was the son of George Patrick Kelly (1867-1898) and Rebecca Gertrude O’Neill (1869-1958). Robert worked as a butcher when he enlisted in the AIF on 17 September 1914. He stated that he had previously served in the Citizens Forces with the 18th Infantry in North Sydney. Robert did not provide his full name on his attestation paper. There may have been something in his Citizens Forces Record of Service or elsewhere that he did not want the AIF to discover. Several letters from the Army in his service papers attempt to track down the records from the 18th Infantry and his mother. Neither appears to have had it. At various times, he changed the year of his birth. He stated that his age on enlistment in 1914 was 20. Three years later, when re-enlisting under an assumed name, he stated that his age was 27 and 9 months. Later in life, during the Second World War, he listed his date of birth as 11 November 1893 on his Citizen Military Forces enlistment form. However, on a Statutory Declaration signed in February 1956 stating that he had lost his discharge papers, he recorded his date of birth as 11 November 1889. NSW birth records indicate that 1894 was the year he was born.

Reading his service records shows that Robert Kelly was constantly in trouble, so much so that he was sent home to Australia for disciplinary reasons and discharged from the AIF in 1916. He then re-enlisted under a different name (Albert Kelly).

Upon his initial enlistment, he was given service number 2351. His wife Maria was listed as his next of kin. Her full name was Merizles Meria Mercy Burns (1893-1936). They had married in 1912 and had two children, Roberta Meria (1913-1992) and Sydney George (1915-1995).

Robert embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT A26 Armadale as a Driver with the 10th Australian Army Supply Corps (AASC) on 20 October 1914. The Armadale was one of the 38 Australian transports and 10 New Zealand transports that formed the First Convoy that set off for Europe, leaving Western Australian waters on 1 November 1914 en route to Egypt.

The 10th AASC had been in Egypt for less than a month when, on 23 December 1914, Robert was charged with drunkenness. His discipline issues would only escalate from here.

On 18 April 1915, he proceeded to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. However, there is no record in his service papers of Robert landing at Gallipoli. He was back in Alexandria on 15 May 1915. Five days later, he was awarded 7 days confinement to camp for disobeying orders. This offence had occurred the day after he had returned to Alexandria. On 11 June 1915, he forfeited 8 days’ pay and was given 7 days Field Punishment for drunkenness and being absent without leave (AWL).

On 15 June 1915, whilst the campaign continued in Gallipoli, Robert was admitted to hospital in Alexandria suffering from VD. His 12 days stay in hospital cost him 12 days’ pay. Many Australian soldiers in Egypt contracted venereal diseases, primarily from contact with prostitutes in Egyptian brothels.

On 4 July, he was admitted to hospital suffering from a septic hand. He stayed three days in No 17 General Hospital. On 26 July 1915, he was found guilty of being absent from parade. He was admonished for this offence.

On 7 August 1915, he embarked aboard HT Cameronian for the Dardanelles. He just made the ship, having been AWL for the previous three days. He was awarded 7 days Field Punishment for this absence and forfeited three days’ pay.
Returning from the Dardanelles, he again went absent without leave from 26 September 1915 to 2 October 1915. Then, only 90 minutes after returning to camp, he went AWL again from 8.30 am on 2 October 1915 to 12 noon on 9 October 1915. For this offence, he received 56 days Field Punishment No. 2 and forfeited 15 days’ pay. He was in detention from 26 October 1915 until 24 November 1915.

On 7 February 1916 he was admonished for being out of bounds.

On 1 March 1916, the Officer Commanding, 10th AASC, tiring of Robert’s poor military behaviour, sent him home to Australia for disciplinary reasons. He was discharged from the AIF on 4 April 1916. He forfeited his award of the 1914-15 Star due to his woeful disciplinary record.

Upon discharge from the AIF, he remained unemployed throughout 1917. During this time, Robert and Maria had another child. Ruby Mercy Kelly (1917-1986) was born in July 1917.

Without his wife’s knowledge, on 8 August 1917, Robert re-enlisted in the AIF under an alias, Albert Kelly. He did not disclose his previous military service. He was given the service number 81679 and posted to ‘B’ Company, 1st Infantry Depot Battalion at Liverpool in Sydney. This time, he listed his age as 27, four years older than he was.

Upon discovering the enlistment, Robert’s wife Maria wrote to the Army seeking his discharge. Subsequently, she was interviewed by a Sergeant in the Provost Marshal’s Office at Victoria Barracks, Sydney. Maria wanted Robert discharged, stating that he had enlisted without her knowledge, that she was suffering from poor health and that she had three young children to look after, the oldest of which was 3 ½ years old (and the youngest 5 weeks). She was concerned that if her husband went on active service and anything happened to her, her children would be left unprotected with no one to care for them. Maria would be satisfied if Robert remained in the “Home Service”. Interestingly, she lodged her request using his pseudonym, Albert Kelly. Presumably, Maria did not want to get him into further trouble.

On 11 September 1917, Maria agreed to withdraw her request for discharge on the proviso that Robert was posted to the Australian Army Service Corps (AASC). She may have considered service in the AASC a safer option than other AIF units.
Subsequently, Robert requested a transfer from the 1st Depot Battalion to the AASC, which was granted, effective 17 September 1917. He was now given service number 15088.

On 3 October 1917, he signed a statutory declaration stating that he had enlisted at Narrabri as Albert Kelly; however, he now desired to re-attest in his correct name, Robert O’Neill Kelly. He had already provided a false age and not declared his previous military experience. This time, he attested using his actual middle name, which he had not used in his previous enlistment. He did all of this to hide his previous poor military record. He was successful in keeping his time with the 10th AASC secret. Only in 1920, when he presented his two sets of discharge papers, did the Australian military realise that 2351 Driver Robert Kelly and 15088 Driver Robert O’Neill Kelly were the same.

On 31 October 1917, he re-embarked for overseas service aboard HMAT A1 Euripides as part of the 30th Reinforcements, Australian Army Service Corps. The ship sailed across the Pacific and then through the Panama Canal. Before the ship even docked in England, Robert returned to his old ways by going AWL at Port-of-Spain in Trinidad. He was AWL from noon on 5 December until apprehended at 3 pm on 6 December 1917. Robert forfeited two days’ pay as a result. He was not the only man to overstay his shore leave in Trinidad. After more than a month at sea, a few of the 2,500 men aboard Euripides chose the opportunity to either overstay their leave or leave the ship aboard various local boats that came alongside the Transport.

The Euripides disembarked in Devonport on 26 December 1917. Two days later, Robert was admitted to hospital, again suffering from VD. This time, he would spend 42 days in the hospital at Parkhouse. When discharged from hospital, he was released into custody. Before the day was out, he had escaped custody and, once apprehended, was sentenced at a District Court Martial on 15 March 1918 to 60 days detention, of which 40 days was remitted. He served this period in hospital in Bulford, continuing his treatment for VD.

He proceeded to France on 9 April 1918 and was Taken on Strength (TOS) as a Driver with the 6th Australian Mechanical Transport Company (6th Aust. M.T. Coy) on 21 April 1918.

On 25 May 1918, he was found guilty of wilfully destroying an article of equipment by tearing up his paybook. He was also found guilty of conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline in that he used obscene language on a pay parade and then when placed under open arrest, asked to be committed to the guard room. For these offences, he was confined to barracks for 14 days and forfeited 4 days’ pay.

On 15 July 1918, he was sent to the 7th Australian Field Ambulance and then the 5th Casualty Clearing Station suffering Orchitis. Potentially, he had picked up another STI; however, it may also have been caused by a bacterial or viral infection. This hospital stay kept him away from the unit until 23 July 1918.
Robert now managed to keep out of trouble for the next three months.
However, Robert went AWL again from 8.30 am on 28 October 1918 until 10.30 am on 29 October, for which he forfeited four days’ pay.

On 19 February 1919, he was admitted to hospital with a fever of unknown origin. With the 14th Australian Field Ambulance initially, he moved to the Casualty Clearing Station at Maubeuge and then Charleroi. At the 7th General Hospital in Etaples, this illness was amended to VD. On 2 March 1919, he was sent to England, returning to hospital in Bulford.

He returned to Australia aboard Shropshire on 17 May 1919 and was discharged from the AIF on 4 December 1919.

Post-war, Robert and Maria had two more children, Patrick Kelly (1920-?) and Pauline (1922-1922). He continued working as a butcher.
Maria died in 1936. A year later, Robert married Sarah May Windibank.

During the Second World War, Robert enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces (CMF), serving from 12 February 1942 until 11 August 1944. He served with the Coast Artillery at Cape Banks, where he worked as a butcher. From 6 pm on 30 December 1943 until 11.30 am on 31 December 1943, he was AWL, the only time during his 912 days of service during the Second World War. At 50, he was discharged as medically unfit for further service.

He received the British War and Victory Medals for his First World War service. In his service records is a page outlining his service ‘for the information of the medal board’. After detailing his disciplinary record, there is the following statement:

‘This man is eligible for British War and Victory Medals on the second period of service. Should 1914-15 Star be restored.’ This last sentence was posed as a question, although it has a full stop rather than a question mark. The answer was ‘AUTOMATICALLY FORFEITS STAR’.

He received the 1939-45 War and Australia Service Medals for his Second World War service.

Robert O’Neill Kelly died on 7 September 1966.