Collie NSW
TBC
TBC
Tooraweenah Kookaburra
1970
Patrick and Michael O ‘Connor joined the Tooraweenah Recruitment March on 12 January 1916 and marched 378 kms to Bathurst. Their story cannot be told without including their brother, George O’Connor, who joined them soon after they arrived at Bathurst. A fourth brother, Edmund Joseph O’Connor enlisted in August 1917, aged just 19years old and is also part of their story.
Mrs Caroline O’Connor of Collie NSW saw four of her sons enlist in World War One and march away to endure the hardships of the Western Front. Only three returned to Australia. The boys were single and worked on the family farm at Collie NSW. Their mother was their next of kin as their father; William O’Connor had died in 1913.
Patrick, Michael and George trained at Bathurst until 29 March 1916 and embarked for Egypt on the ‘Ceramic’ on 14 April, 1916. With the 45th Battalion. After training in Egypt, they embarked at Alexandria on the ‘Francona’ and arrived at Plymouth England, on 16 June 1916. They left for France on 9 September 1916 and joined their unit, the 45th Battalion on 20 September 1916 in Belgium.
—————
Edward (known as Ned) was a 19 year old farmer of Collie NSW when he enlisted n Sydney on 3 August 1917.
The 13 July 1917 edition of the Gilgandra Weekly reported his enlistment and mentioned his brothers Patrick and George who were at the front, and Michael, who had returned to Australia. However, George was deemed ‘missing in action’ at the time, and later, in August 1917 he was listed as ‘killed in action’ on 7 June 1917.
A marble plaque was made by Larcombe’s in Dubbo to be sent with Edward to be placed on George’s grave, but George’s body was never identified. Unable to identify a grave the marble slab was sent back to Australia and misplaced for a period, but was found in the Victoria Army Base. It was sent back to Collie and then placed in pride of place at Collie Hall or Church and misplaced again. It was found at the family grave in Gilgandra and was displayed in Brian Bywater’s Hitchen House. It is now in the family’s possession.
Edward’s first medical examination was in Dubbo, NSW on 4 July 1917 and the second in Liverpool Camp on 12 December, 1917. Edward had suffered infantile paralysis and had difficulty passing the test. He was described as 5’ 10” tall, 136lbs (62kgs), chest 33”, dark complexion, blue eyes and dark hair, his religion Roman Catholic and his mother, Caroline O’Connor as his next of kin, because his father had died in 1913. His distinctive mark was a burn on the left side of his hip.
The Collie community gave Edward or Ned as he was called in the newspaper, a ‘send-off’ and the entertainment included singing, dancing, reciting poetry and speeches.
Edward embarked with the 1st Pioneers Battalion for Egypt on A38 ‘Ulysses’ on 19 December, 1917, arriving at Suez 16 January 1918.
From Egypt they travelled on HMT ‘Leasowe Castle’, disembarking at Taranto Italy, on 2 February 1918. From there they travelled by train to Cherbourg, France, where they embarked for Southampton England, arriving 13 February, 1918.
In March 1918, the Medical Board found Edward was unfit for General Service but fit for Home Service, Edward spent the next 10 months at Parkhouse and Sutton Veny. In August 1918 the Board found him fit for General Service and he was transferred to Aiseau in Belgium with 22 other soldiers for duty with the Australian Graves Detachment from March to August 1919. The Graves Detachment of 1918-1919 was responsible for exhuming the soldier’s bodies on the battlefields and reinterring them in Commonwealth War Graves or local community cemeteries.
On 25 September, 1919, Edward started his journey home on the ‘Port Denison’ arriving in Sydney on 17 November, 1919. He was discharged on 17 December 171919.
Edward married Claudia Walker in 1926 and had two children, Claude and Patrick. Edward died 8 October 1970 at Newcastle and is buried in the Sandgate Cemetery, Newcastle.
Private Edward Joseph O’Connor was issued the British War Medal. He is commemorated on the Collie NSW War Memorial.
