Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

30/10/1916

Date of Discharge

08/02/1921

Place of Enlistment

Sydney NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

28/10/1886

Place of Birth

Timaru, New Zealand

Address (at enlistment)

Pastoral Chambers, Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW, previously resident at Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Carpenter

Next of Kin

Andrew Kelly (brother), Aromoho, Wanganui, New Zealand and his sister, Mrs. A. McWilliam, Wanganui, New Zealand.

Service Number

2801

Final Rank

Private

Final Unit

Machine Gun Battalion Details

The primary source for Kelly's inclusion is a mention in a letter written by Albert Jackson to his parents in Queanbeyan which was published in the Queanbeyan Age in 1918. Jackson says that he "met Joe Kelly in hospital, wounded in the head; he used to be a carpenter working at Duntroon Military College." The only man who fits the description is Joseph Kelly (service number 2801) who served with the 34th Battalion on the Western Front from July 1917 when his unit was operating in the vicinity of Messines in Belgium. On 1 October they had moved up to the frontline near Zonnebeke prior to an attack on Broodseinde ridge when Kelly was shot in the head. He was sent to the 55th General Hospital near Boulogne in France (where Jackson was being treated at the same time) before being evacuated to England. After recovering Kelly met and married Hannah Blatt at Bethnal Green on 10 December 1918 and they returned to Sydney the following August.

Kelly was a New Zealander whose parents died when he was very young and he was raised by his sister. A 'Joseph Kelly' is listed on the 1916 electoral roll for the Federal Territory for the conscription referendum of October 1916 and he was farewelled with a group of soldiers at the Triumph Hall in Queanbeyan on 6 November 1916.

Description - height 5 feet 6 inches, weight 133 pounds, chest 31-33 inches, fresh complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, Catholic.

WWI Nominal Roll http://www.awm.gov.au/nominalrolls/ww1
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
ACT Electoral Rolls 1916 to 1967 http://canberraheritageportal.org/default.php
Queanbeyan/ Canberra Advocate - 9 November 1916
Queanbeyan Age - 29 January 1918