DOWNEY, John
| Service Number: | 1039 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 September 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Thornton, Victoria, Australia, 6 June 1880 |
| Home Town: | Yunderup, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Engine driver |
| Died: | 5 January 1959, aged 78 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Geelong Eastern Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1039, 11th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1914: | Involvement Private, 1039, 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1914: | Embarked Private, 1039, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Fremantle | |
| 11 Jan 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 1039, 11th Infantry Battalion, 3rd MD, medically unfit (wounding and disease) |
Help us honour John Downey's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Geoff Crapper
Pte John Gerald DOWNEY, 11th Infantry Battalion
Chalk up another win for Ancestry DNA.
Decided to check Ancestry for any new DNA matches for Barbara and found a 1st cousin twice removed I didn't have on the family tree thru a 53 cM DNA match with Mack Nevill.
He is Sgt John Gerard Downey 11th Battalion AIF, 1st cousin and contempary of Barbara's maternal grandmother Eliza Rennie.
John joined the AIF in Sep-1914, within a month of the outbreak of WWI. It is unclear if he was at the landing at ANZAC Cove on 25-Apr-1915, but was certainly there in May-1915.
He was badly wounded in the face by Turkish gunfire on the first day of the Battle of Lone Pine on 6-Aug-1918.
His injury was so bad he could not return to duty and was invalided home to Australia.
There he recovered and married a girl from his home town of Alexandra in 1918, named Esther Maude Robb, and had 3 children, John, Valda and William Downey who were 2nd cousins of my mother inlaw Mary Rennie Davies.
Click images to start slideshow.