Patrick Michael

Patrick Michael

courtesy "No Less Worthy"
Personal Information
Date of Birth	c1889
Place of Birth	Cunderdin, Western Australia
Death	25 May 1951
Place of Death	Perth, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	27 years old
Description	5'7" (1.70m) tall ; 124 lbs 56.245 kg ; 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	11 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 Fremantle to Plymouth
Date of Return	21 Jul 1917 ‒ 11 Sep 1917
Ship Returned On	HMAT A14 Euripides England to Fremantle
Fate	Wounded in Action 3-6 Nov 1916, Gueudecourt Returned to Australia
Monument	Jarrahdale Honour Roll ANZAC Memorial Park (Byford)
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

At age 13 Patrick was employed by Joseph Marwick a York farmer.

Electoral Roll entries - 1914 timber worker, East Kirup.

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

War Service

At the time Patrick entered camp, the 44th Battalion was being raised, and thus he was within a day, allocated to them, and in turn to their B Company. At enlistment he claimed to have been born in Gympie, Queensland, a claim he repeated when he enlisted for WW2.

On 18 Aug 1916 in England, Patrick was charged with being AWOL from 12:00am 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 had been assigned to the 7th Training Battalion, and at some point was transferred from the 44th Battalion to a 28th Battalion reinforcement group. 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 on arrival he was admitted to the 3rd London General Hospital the next day. Released to the 2nd Australian Auxiliary Hospital on 22 Nov 1916, he was then sent to Weymouth on 25 Nov 1916. However, by 1 Dec 1916 he was again in need of medical attention and this time he was admitted to the King George's Hospital with an unknown infection. Released on 5 Mar 1917 to No 2 Command Depot at Weymouth, then 2 days later to the No 4 Command Depot at Wareham and then to the No 3 Command Depot at Hurdcott on 17 Mar 1917. There on 3 Apr 1917 he was classified as B2A, unfit for further battlefield duty.

While waiting to go home, on 1 May 1917 he was transferred to the No 2 Command Depot at Weymouth. The bones fractured in his arm did not reunite, and thus he was sent back to Australia where he was discharged by the 5th Military District on 20 Nov 1917.

Post War

Within a year of his discharge, Patrick was back in the Northam area. By the early 1930s he was working at Yorkrakine, and at the end of the decade he was in the Tammin district. At the time of his death, burial records give Wubin as his normal place of residence.

WW2 War Service

Patrick Richard Michael enlisted on the 28 August 1941 from Swanbourne and served as a Private in World War Two from 28 Aug 1941 until 17 Nov 1941 with the service number W26672.

At enlistment for WWII, Patrick listed Tammin, WA as his home town. His posting at discharge was 5th Garrison Battalion [citation needed].

References

Valuable background information provided by Rob Horridge, and the publication No Less Worthy

External Links

• AIF Project
• RSL Virtual War Memorial