Patrick Michael

Personal Information
Date of Birth	14 Jul 1896
Place of Birth	Gympie, Queensland
Death	25 May 1951
Place of Death	Wubin, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	27 years old (was actually 20)
Description	5'7" (1.70m) tall; weight 124 lbs (56.2kg); bronze black complexion, grey eyes, black hair.
Occupation	Horse driver
Religion	Roman Catholic
Address	Jarrahdale, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother, Mrs Ann Martin, Cunderdin, Western Australia
Military Information
Reg Number	331
Date of Enlistment	10 Feb 1916
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	44th Battalion, B Company transferred to 28th Battalion / 7th Brigade, 2nd Division
Date of Embarkation	6 Jun 1916 - 21 Jul 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A29 Suevic
Date of Return	21 Jul 1917 - 11 Sep 1917
Ship Returned On	HMAT A14 Euripides
Fate	Wounded in Action 3-6 Nov 1916, Gueudecourt Returned to Australia
Monument	Jarrahdale
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

Electoral Roll entries - #2288 1914 timber worker, East Kirupp. District of Swan, subdistrict Collie.

Patrick has been identified as an Indigenous Australian through the Australian War Memorial Project.

War Service

Immediately after entering camp, Patrick is allocated to the 44th Battalion's B Company.

On 18 Aug 1916 Patrick was charged with being AWOL from 12:00pm 10 Aug 1916 until he reported at 2:15pm on 11 Aug 1916. Awarded 1 day of No.2 Field Punishment, 7 days confined to barracks and forfeited 2 days pay. On 19 Sep 1916 he was charged with being Absent from Church Parade at 9:00am 17 Sep 1916 at Rollestone, for which he received 7 days Confined to Barracks and fined £1/15/- ($3.50).

On arrival in England Patrick was assigned to the 7th Training Battalion, and on 14 Oct 1916 he proceeded overseas to France from Folkestone aboard HMT Victoria. Along with 46 other reinforcements, Patrick joined the 28th Battalion on 30 Oct 1916 at Dernacourt on the Somme where they were in billets.

On 3 Nov 1916 the 28th Battalion relieved the 53rd in the front line trenches. The trenches were in poor order, with between 1 and 3 feet (300mm - 1m) of mud in them. On 5 Nov 1916 they attacked the German front line trenches known as Gird Trench, suffering heavy losses (59 killed, 172 wounded and 50 missing). Patrick received a gunshot wound to his left wrist during the battle that was to be known as Gueudecourt. Treated by the 5th Field Ambulance on 5 Nov 1916, and then the 3rd Stationary Hospital in Rouen on 8 Nov 1916.

On 10 Nov 1916 Patrick was embarked on HMHS Carisbrook Castle at Le Havre for England, and was admitted to the 3rd London General Hospital the next day. Transferred to the King George's Hospital on 17 Jan 1917 and not released to No 4 Command Depot in Wareham until 7 Mar 1917. Transferred to No. 3 Command Depot at Hurdcott 10 days later. The bones fractured in his arm did not reunite, and thus he was sent back to Australia.

Discharged 5th Military District 20 Nov 1917.

WW2 War Service

Patrick Richard Michael enlisted on the 28 August 1941 from Swanbourne and served as a Private in World War Two from 1939-1948 with the service number W26672.

He listed Tammin, WA as his home town and was discharged on the 17 November 1941. His posting at discharge was 5th Garrison Battalion [citation needed].

External Links

The AIF Project