James Thomas (Tom) HEGARTY

HEGARTY, James Thomas

Service Numbers: W74196, W74196
Enlisted: 19 April 1942
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 10th (WA) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)
Born: Perth, Western Australia, Australia, 11 August 1895
Home Town: Wagin, Wagin, Western Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Engine Driver
Died: Fremantle, Western Australia, 22 June 1951, aged 55 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia
Memorials:
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World War 2 Service

19 Apr 1942: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, W74196, 10th (NSW) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)
10 Nov 1943: Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, W74196, 10th (WA) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)
Date unknown: Involvement Private, W74196, 10th (WA) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)
Date unknown: Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, W74196, 10th (NSW) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Tom was the third of six children of James Daniel Patrick Hagerty (born 1866 in Ireland) and Elizabeth (Eliza) Brennan (born 1869 in Toodyay, WA). James (a Labourer on the WA Railways) and Eliza married in Northam in 1889. James and Eliza lived in Perth, Bunbury, Fremantle, Geraldton, Northam and Southern Cross, moving with James' employmnet with the WA Railways as a Cleaner, Labourer, Porter, Engine Driver and Pumper.

Tom also worked with the WA Railways - a Cleaner with the Locomotives Branch in Northam in 1916 when he married Margaret Dominica Brennan (born 1896 in Liverpool, NSW). Tom and Margaret moved to Geraldton, WA and from 1920 Tom was a Locomotive Fireman (Kalgoorlie and Northam), and in 1937 he was an Engine Driver. 

Tom was an Engine Driver in Wagin, WA when he enlisted in the ACMF in 1942, and served as a Private (Service No:W74196) with 10 Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps. His surname is incorrectly entered as 'Hegarty' on the first page of his Attestation Papers. Brother William (Bill) Joseph Hagerty (Corporal; Service No:WX9599) also served in WWII and was a PoW of the Japanese in Thailand.

Tom and Margaret moved to Fremantle, WA where Tom continued working for WA Railways until his death in 1951. Margaret died in 1990.

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