KILEY, Terence Benjamin
| Service Number: | 7511 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 May 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Gerringong, New South Wales, Australia, 21 April 1889 |
| Home Town: | Gerringong, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Fireman |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 18 September 1918, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 1 May 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 7511, 1st Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1917: | Involvement Private, 7511, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Marathon embarkation_ship_number: A74 public_note: '' | |
| 10 May 1917: | Embarked Private, 7511, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Marathon, Sydney |
Help us honour Terence Benjamin Kiley's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Terance KILEY was born on 21st April 1889 at Gerringong, NSW.. He began work with the NSW Government Railways in August 1907 as a cleaner (the first rung in the career path to engine driver) at Eveleigh Locomotive Depot. By 1910 he had progressed to fireman but in August 1912 he had regressed to cleaner and he resigned. He applied for re-employment but the NSWGR was undecided as to whether to take him back. Eventually in 1914 they ruled that he could be employed on a six months’ trial, and he became a cleaner again on 16th March and a fireman on 21st May. However, in July he was dismissed for insobriety. The authorities relented again in 1915 to the extent that he was employed as a temporary fitters’ labourer and by early 1917 was at least eligible for the higher pay rate of a fireman.
However, in April 1917 Kiley decided to enlist in the AIF and he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces. His military record gives his name as Terence Benjamin KILEY (Service Number 7511) and shows that he enlisted at Sydney (probably Victoria Barracks) on 1st May 1917. He was unmarried and gave his father as his next of kin. He left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Marathon’ on 10th May 1917 (NB nine days after enlisting) and reached Devonport (England) on 20th July. He joined the 1st Training Battalion and proceeded overseas to France in early December. He was taken on the strength of the 1st Battalion on 10th December. He spent January 1918 on Command at the 1st Battalion Headquarters and May 1918 with the 1st Australian Imperial Brigade.
He was killed in action on 18th September 1918.
It would seem that, late in the war, the Australians were advancing behind the Hindenberg Line when Kiley was shot through the head by a sniper or machine gun fire.
Private G H Dempsey reported:
‘We were advancing towards a German machine gun post, and while getting there he and I were close to one another. I lay flat out, and he kneeled down on his two knees, and a sniper got him. He never said a word. I heard his tin hat fly off, so I looked around and saw he was killed immediately; we still had 200 yards to go, and there was only two of us left, so we had to keep on going. The Corporal that was with me went back after dark, and collected all his things, and handed them over to the Captain, and he also buried him; if you write to him he may be able to give you a bit more information, but I know for a fact that he went back especially to bury him. Tell his people I have their address, and I will take a run up later to see them.’
Despite the Corporal’s devotion to his mate, the grave site was lost and Kiley has no known grave. He is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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