Michael Edmund O'DONNELL

Michael Edmund O'DONNELL Update Details

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O'DONNELL, Michael Edmund

Service Number:	15022
Enlisted:	Not yet discovered
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	32nd Infantry Battalion
Born:	Norwood, South Australia, Australia, date not yet discovered
Home Town:	Norwood (SA), South Australia
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Labourer
Died:	Killed in Action, France, 20 May 1917, age not yet discovered
Cemetery:	No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France
Memorials:	Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Norwood Primary School Honour Board, Norwood War Memorial, Somerton Park Sacred Heart College Men of "The Marist Brothers Old Scholars Association" Honor Roll WW1, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France)

World War 1 Service

4 May 1916:	Involvement Gunner, 15022, 6th Field Artillery Brigade , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: ''
4 May 1916:	Embarked Gunner, 15022, 6th Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Port Lincoln, Melbourne
20 May 1917:	Involvement Private, 15022, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 15022 awm_unit: 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-05-20

Help us honour Michael Edmund O'Donnell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by St Ignatius' College

Michael Edmund O’Donnell

1. Life before the war.

Before Michael Edmund O’Donnell went to war, he lived in Donegal street, Norwood. He worked as a labourer before he embarked for the war. When he embarked in Melbourne he was 24 years old and the date of his enlistment was the 10th of November 1915. Before we went to war he never got married and therefore never had any children. His next of kin was his father so he was probably close to him before he went to war. Before we went to war, he did not have his own house and was living with his father.

2. Life during the war.

Michael Edmund O’Donnell was in the Field Artillery Brigade 6, Reinforcement 5. Life During the war for Michael Edmund O’Donnell was tough as he was a gunner and would have had to put up with constant fire from the enemy. He had to look after horses as they were used to carry around the large cannon like guns that gunners used. Michael Edmund O’Donnell did not always do what he was told either. He lost days of pay multiple times for not coming to the job. He was not granted leave but decided to anyway. Michael Edmund O’Donnell was transferred to the 32nd battalion in November 1916. He was killed in action in France 20/5/1917. The Memorial where he is commemorated is the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.

3. ANZAC spirit.

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The qualities of an ANZAC consist of endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour, and mateship. These are the qualities that would have been required when living in the trenches. A soldier that has these qualities is showing the ANZAC spirit. An example of when a soldier would have had to show one of the qualities in the ANZAC spirit is showing endurance. Soldiers would have had to shown endurance when putting up with constant fire from the enemy and keep fighting back. Another example of ANZAC courage as it would have been very scary knowing you could get shot at any time. Michael Edmund O’Donnell would have had to had shown the ANZAC spirit during long battles. A quality would have been endurance considering how long the war went on for.

Bibliography

Aif.adfa.edu.au. (2018). Search. [online] Available at: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/search [Accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Memorial, T. (2018). Advanced Search | The Australian War Memorial. [online] Awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search [Accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Anon, (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx [Accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Anon, (2018). [online] Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx [Accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Trove. (2018). Advanced Search. [online] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/?q&adv=y [Accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Memorial, T. (2018). Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War. [online] Awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 [Accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Memorial, T. (2018). Advanced Search | The Australian War Memorial. [online] Awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search [Accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au. (2018). Advanced keyword search — State Library of South Australia. [online] Available at: http://www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au/search/X [Accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

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