Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

25/05/1940

Place of Enlistment

Paddington NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

05/12/1918

Place of Birth

Ivanhoe, Melbourne, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Canberra ACT

School(s) Attended

St. Patrick's College (East Melbourne)

Occupation

Commonwealth Public Servant, Department of the Interior Accounts Branch, Acton, Canberra ACT.

Next of Kin

Only child of Thomas Daniel and Elsie Amy Coakley, of Inverloch, Victoria

Burial Place

Beirut War Cemetery, Lebanese Republic: grave 2. E. 1

Service Number

NX12470

Final Rank

Lieutenant

Final Unit

2/31 Infantry Battalion AIF

Died 18 June 1941 aged 22 years, killed in action in Jezzine, Syria.

AWM Roll of Honour, Canberra ACT: Panel 59.

Coakley joined the 3 Battalion militia in about 1936 and was commissioned in November 1939. He transferred to the AIF in May 1940 and joined the 2/31 Battalion in Egypt. In June 1941 the 2/31 Battalion was involved in the invasion of Syria and Lebanon, then controlled by the Vichy French. On 14 June they captured the mountain town of Jezzine in southern Lebanon but the Vichy French counter-attacked a few days later. Coakley was killed in action on 18 June 1941, aged 22 years, in Jezzine.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Debt of Honour Register. <http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search/>
Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. World War 2 nominal roll. http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/
AWM Roll of Honour and Roll of Honour Circulars <http://www.awm.gov.au/database/roh.asp>
Commonwealth Public Service Clerical Association, Australian Capital Territory Branch. Honour Roll. [Members on active service, published in newsletter]
The Canberra Times - 30 May 1940, 27 January 1941, 26 July 1941, 15 August 1941, 18 June 1942 (p.2)
Alan Fewster (ed.), 'Capital Correspondent: The Canberra Letters of Edwin Charles 1936-37', 2002