Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

02/02/1916

Date of Discharge

17/03/1919

Place of Enlistment

Goulburn NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

08/05/1896

Place of Birth

Yass NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Crawford Street, Queanbeyan NSW (associated with Duntroon ACT)

Occupation

Plumber's assistant

Next of Kin

Elizabeth O'Grady (mother), Crawford Street, Queanbeyan NSW

Service Number

2208

Final Rank

Private

Final Unit

5 Machine Gun Battalion AIF

Queanbeyan RSL Wall of Remembrance, Crawford St, Queanbeyan NSW, Our Queanbeyan 'Boys' No.2, Howard & Shearsby, Yass (postcard)

Known as 'Jack', O'Grady was reported to have been part of the Men from Snowy River route march. He was working as a plumber in Canberra when he was given a farewell at Ryan's Hotel in Queanbeyan in 1916.

O'Grady served with the 55th Battalion in France from December 1916 at the front line near Flers. In April 1917 the 55th Battalion captured the village of Doignies on the road to Cambrai and a month later participated in the Second Battle of Bullecourt. They also fought at the Battle of Polygon Wood in Belgium in September 1917 after which O'Grady was detached to the 14th Machine Gun Company and then transferred to the 5th Machine Gun Battalion near Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918. He was accidentally shot in the head in May 1918, which fractured his skull, and returned to Australia in October 1918. According to the Monaro Pioneers Index he died in Sydney in 1983.

Description - height 5 feet 5 inches, weight 132 pounds, chest 34-37 inches, medium complexion, grey eyes, dark brown hair, Catholic, scar on his abdomen from appendix operation.

Timothy J. Cook, 'Snowy to the Somme - A Muddy and Bloody Campaign, 1916-1918', 2014
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980
Our Queanbeyan 'Boys' No.2 postcard, Howard & Shearsby 191?, provided courtesy of Patricia Hardy
Queanbeyan Age - 27 May 1916, 30 May 1916, 2 June 1916, 25 June 1918, 28 June 1918, 18 October 1918
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Monaro Pioneers Index - http://www.monaropioneers.com/pioneers.htm
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'The Men from Snowy River', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial