Private John Joseph Cleary, 9th Battalion, AIF
Australian War MemorialJohn Cleary was born in Kildare, Ireland, to James and Abigail Cleary. He was the fifth of six children.
By the advent of the First World War the family had immigrated to Australia and settled in Charters Towers in northern Queensland, where John was working as a miner.
Charters Towers had been founded in the 1870s when gold was discovered there by chance. The area contained Australia’s richest major gold field, and during its boom years had a population of 30,000 and hosted its own stock exchange.
John Cleary enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 16 August 1915. After his initial training, he was allotted to the 13th reinforcements to the 9th Battalion, and embarked from Brisbane in January 1916 aboard the transport ship Kyarra, bound for Egypt.
Arriving at Alexandria in February, Cleary underwent training before being sent to France at the end of March. After a month at Ètaples, Private Cleary joined the 9th Battalion, in sector near Armentières.
In June, Cleary volunteered to take part in a trench raid being organised by Captain Maurice Wilder Neligan. The men trained for several weeks and made numerous night-time forays into no man’s land to familiarise themselves with their plan of attack.
Towards midnight on 1 July 1917 the three parties of raiders set out. Cleary was in the right flank party and was involved in the capture of numerous weapons, pieces of equipment and prisoners.
During the fighting he was shot in the head, suffering a compound fracture of the skull. He was evacuated to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station where he died from his wounds on 2 July.
John Cleary was laid to rest in the Estaires Communal Cemetery and Extension. He was 41 years old.
Michael Kelly, Historian, Military History Section
Image: A working party of the 40th Battalion returning to their billets through the ruins of Houplines near Armentieres, after a day's work in the frozen trenches during December 1916.
