Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918
Dooley R Cpl 90 Raymond 29 Inf Bn 19 Clerk Single C of E
Address: Moonee Ponds, Margaret St, 21
Next of Kin: Dooley, Olivia, Mrs, mother, 21 Margaret St, Moonee Ponds
12 Kenilworth Pde, Ivanhoe by 1 Aug 1916
Enlisted: 12 Jul 1915
Embarked: A11 Ascanius 10 Nov 1915
Prior service: 58th Inf Regt
Awards: MBE
Relatives on Active Service:
Dooley N H Pte 7338
Haynes O L Sister sister in law
Lieutenant Raymond Dooley
Raymond Dooley, born in Wangaratta in 1896, was the son of schoolteacher William Dooley and Olivia, nee Lethbridge.
In 1914 Olivia Dooley was residing at 71 Margaret St, Moonee Ponds with her three children. When Raymond completed his attestation form in 1915, he said that his father's address was unknown.
In 1909 Raymond won a scholarship to Wesley College, and while there he did two years with the Wesley College Cadets. Afterwards he joined the 58 Inf Bn Machine Gun Company, He rose to Sergeant in this company. He was a keen soldier, but he was initially rejected because of his height, 5 feet 2 inches, and weighing only 8 stone. After the casualties at Gallipoli, the recruitment standards were lowered, and by July 5 feet 2 inches was quite acceptable. His mother signed a letter of consent to his enlistment, at the age of 19 years and four months. After further machine gun training he embarked for Egypt with the rank of Corporal, arriving in December 1915, not long before the evacuation of the peninsula.
During the next few months in Egypt he was spent time in Deversoir, Serapeum, Tel-el-Kebir and Ferry Post, In April 1916 he was promoted to Sergeant, and after some further training at the Vickers Machine Guns School in Ismailia, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant with the 8th Brigade Machine Gun Company. In June 1916 he embarked for France where he spent time in Hazebrouk, Flerbaix and Fromelles. At Fromelles on 19 July he was blown up and suffered shell concussion and a contused back, after which he was evacuated to England.
After some months recovering he was transferred to No 1 Command Depot at Salisbury Plains, promoted to Lieutenant and appointed to be the Assistant Quartermaster. His work here was highly regarded and in January 1918 his Commanding Officer recommended him for an award. In June 1918 he was given an MBE.
Sutton Veny, England. 1 October 1918. Lieutenant Dooley in the centre checks
Military Medals prior to presentation while Major General Sir J W M'Cay does the
honours at No. 1 Command Depot. AWM Collection. http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/D00084
Lieutenant Dooley returned to Australia in April 1919 and returned to his public service position.
Sources:
Sutton Veny Village Website http://suttonveny.co.uk/uploads/2/8/3/8/2838050/background_02.pdf
National Archives of Australia B2455
|
Mentioned in this correspondence:
Letter from W H Crapp published in Winner 29 Nov 1916
War Service Commemorated
Essendon Town Hall A-F
St James Church of England, Moonee Ponds
St Thomas' Anglican Church
Essendon Gazette Roll of Honour With the Colours
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.