Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

KAVANAGH BROTHERS

Denis 1887-1940

Charles 1876-1917

James 1878-1921

Three brothers from the Kavanagh family served in WW1. The youngest of the three, Denis, was the first to enlist.

Denis, who preferred to spell his surname with a ‘C’ was born at Grassmere just north of Warrnambool.  He was labouring in Queensland when he enlisted in Brisbane on 7 June 1916 at the age of 28. His parents, Charles and Bridget Kavanagh had both died so he named his brother Michael as his next of kin.

Denis had done some pre-enlistment training with the Royal Australian Artillery so it was logical for him to be appointed to the Artillery. He embarked for England on 17 July 1915, arriving in early September.  He would have done further training in England before proceeding to France, arriving at Boulogne in February 1916.  In July he spent most of the month in hospital suffering from typhoid fever, returning to his unit in August.

After two week’s leave in February 1917, he returned to his unit where, later in the year, from July to November, the Third Battle of Ypres (often known as Passchendaele) was being fought. (YouTube scenes of these can be Googled, showing Menin Road, Hellfire Corner and Polygon Wood). Denis’s war records do not state just where he was stationed so one can only guess that this is where he was wounded on 25 September 1917, reporting to the Australian field ambulance with a gunshot wound to his right arm. From there he was transferred to the 7th Canadian Hospital at Etaples, then to No 5 Convalescent Depot at Cayeux-sur-mer where he was discharged to the General Base Hospital at Rouelles.

Denis rejoined his unit which was still serving in Belgium in November 1917.

Further illness necessitated him being hospitalised, this being arteriosclerosis causing him to be invalided to Weymouth Depot awaiting a ship to take him back to Australia. He arrived in Melbourne aboard the HMAT Ulysses in March 1919, to be discharged two months later.

Denis returned to Warrnambool as farm labourer, married Stella Morris in 1919, and had three children; Charles Morris Kavanagh - 1921-2005, Claire Lorraine Kavanagh - 1926-2000 and Denis Kavanagh - 1928-1980.

He must have worked on board merchant ships as they berthed in Geelong, as he is reported to have slipped and fallen down a hold on the SS Beltana, causing his death on 8 May 1940. He is buried in the Warrnambool cemetery.

The three Kavanagh boys' names appear on the Main Honour Board in Violet Town. They also have their own copper plaques affixed to the outside wall of the Memorial Hall. It is thought that these plaques were used in the tree plantings in 1917 and 1918.

His Service Medals, the British War Medal and Victory Medal were sent to his sister Elizabeth in Violet Town in 1921.

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Across the Tasman Sea in Trentham New Zealand, the second brother to enlist was Charles Kavanagh. He was 39, working as a Contractor in Wellington and living with his sister Mrs Katherine McGurk when he joined up in March 1916. He was appointed to the 1st Otago Infantry Battalion with whom he trained for the next three months.

In June he embarked on the Wanganui, arriving three months later at Devonport, England. He was sent to Sling Training Camp on the Salisbury plain before embarking for France in September. From the Depot at Etaples he was sent to his Battalion which at that time was in action at Passchendaele.

On 12 October 1917 NZ troops were engaged in events that took the lives of 45 officers and 800 men, surely the greatest disaster in New Zealand’s history.  Charles unfortunately was one of the casualties, buried in an unmarked grave.  He is remembered in the Roll of Honour in Tyne Cot Cemetery.

His service medals would have been sent to his sister Katherine McGurk  in 1921

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Nearly a month after Charles enlisted in New Zealand, James Kavanagh signed up at Broadmeadows in Victoria.  He was 35, working as a labourer on the family dairy farm at Boho, at the time of his enlistment on 15 April 1916. He was appointed to the 57th Battalion.  After initial training he embarked aboard HMAT Orsova.

However, after the ship’s temporary stop at Fremantle, some of the troops who had gone ashore missed the ship as it departed, and had to travel the rest of the journey aboard HMAT Malakuta. James was one of these.  

On arrival in England James was sent to 15th Training Camp at Weymouth, arriving in October 1916. Two months later he departed from Folkestone and arrived at the Australian Base Depot in Etaples from where he was taken on strength of the 57th Battalion serving near Bapaume. On 28 March 1917 a significant date in the battle, James was hit by two sniper’s bullets, one fracturing the left cheekbone and the other ‘buttonholing’ the skin at the back of the neck and ploughing into the back.  It was necessary to open, drain and remove part of the mastoid process and cheekbone. This wound left him with deafness in the left ear, constant headaches, dizziness and epileptic fits. He was treated finally at the Taunton Military Hospital where he was declared unfit for further service and recommended for return to Australia for further treatment. He travelled home aboard HMAT Orontes on 10 March 1918.

After discharge in June, James may have returned to the place of his birth at Woodford, inland from Warrnambool. On 15 January 1921 he was found dead near Lara; his brother Denis signed a Statuary Declaration stating the fact, also that James was buried at the New Cemetery, Geelong. 

His service medals, British Service Medal and Victory Medal, would have been sent to his sister Elizabeth in Violet Town.

Another brother, Michael, applied for exemption from war service on the grounds of running the dairy farm and caring for his ailing sister, Elizabeth. It was granted.

In 1917 three memorial trees were planted for the brothers.

In 2013, three Callistemons  - King’s Park Special  - were planted in Orchid Street by Dr Bill Sykes, State Member for Benalla.

© 2015 Sheila Burnell