Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Army
- Conflict
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Date of Enlistment
- 04/04/1916
- Date of Discharge
- 19/12/1919
- Place of Enlistment
- Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Date of Birth
- 08/09/1897
- Place of Birth
- Melbourne, Victoria
- Address (at enlistment)
- Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT
- Occupation
- Soldier
- Next of Kin
- David A. Mackey (father), College Parade, Kew, Victoria
Unit and Rank Details
- Final Rank
- Captain
- Final Unit
- 3 Machine Gun Battalion AIF
Notes
Mackey entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 12 March 1914 in the fourth intake of cadets and graduated on 3 April 1916. He embarked for England in May 1916 with fellow RMC cadets Algie, Chambers and Wardell with the 10th Machine Gun Company. Mackey arrived in France in November 1916 and fought at the Battle of Messines where he was shot in the back. After treatment in England, Mackey was promoted to Captain with the 9th Machine Gun Company and was sent back to France in August 1917. His unit fought at Passchendaele in October 1917 and at Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918. During this period he earned the Military Cross. According to the citation, "on one occasion he secured the flanks of the 9th Brigade when left in the air." He showed "conspicuous gallantry at Accroche Wood on the morning of 8th August 1918. He was in command of the right group of barrage guns when the advance was made moved the whole of his group forward without the loss of a single gun." At the end of the war Mackey was a Staff trainee in the 3rd Division. In early 1919 he was appointed as Brigade Major to the 9th Brigade. Mackey died on 18 April 1934 and was buried with full military honours in St. Kilda Cemetery. He served in artillery units after the war and was Adjutant to the 4th Artillery Brigade at the time of his death.
Sources
Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
The Argus (Melbourne) - 21 April 1934 (obituary)
Weekly Times - 28 April 1934