MCKENZIE, David John
| Service Number: | 457 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 February 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 25th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, 12 May 1893 |
| Home Town: | Ipswich, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Painter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 29 July 1916, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Rosewood Shire Council Roll of Honor, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 457, 25th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 457, 25th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 457, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Brisbane |
Help us honour David John McKenzie's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
David was the third of six children of Thomas Henry McKenzie (born 1865 in Ipswich, QLD) and his second wife Maria Ridsdale (born 1861 in Durham, England). Maria arrived in Brisbane, QLD with her parents in 1863. Thomas - a Salesman - and Maria married in 1888 in Ipswich, QLD where they settled and raised their family. Following Thoms' death in 1905, Marie remarried Alfred Blake (born 1874 in Cornwall, England) in 1907 in Ipswich. Maria and Alfred settled at Rosewood on the Darling Downs in QLD, where Alfred was a Labourer and Machinist.
David was working as a Painter at Rosewood on the Darling Downs in QLD when he enlisted in the AIF in 1915. He served with 25th Infantry Battalion B Coy (Private; Service No:457) in Gallipoli and France. David was initially reported missing, and his mother Maria wrote on 1 January 1917 'I am sending to ask if you could give me any news about my Son Pte D J McKenzie No457 B Company 25 Btn AIF last in France. It is over 5 months now since my poor Son has been missing and I think you ought to be able to let me know something now you know it is orfull thing for a poor Mother to be looking for word to so long waiting for a message let it be good or bad after getting word to say her Son is missing waiting and watching for the next message ...' and again on 25 March 1917 '... it is a heartbreak for a poor mother to know her poor Son is missing so long please try and let me know where he is or what has happened to him'. (National Archives Australia).
Private D J McKenzie was declared Killed in Action on 29 July 1917.
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