5425 Private Owen McManus 45th Australian Infantry Battalion

Story

Author: Australian War Memorial

Posted on 27 May 2026

Owen McManus was born on 19 November 1892 in the small town of Winton in Victoria. He was one of three children born to Owen McManus Senior and his wife Helena. Owen’s father died shortly before Owen was born, leaving his mother Helena to raise their three children. The family moved to St Kilda in Melbourne, and Owen received his education at Christian Brothers College. After he left school, he trained as a blacksmith and farrier and was working in this trade at the outbreak of the war in 1914.

Owen McManus enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 1 December 1915. He was assigned to the 13th Infantry Battalion with the rank of private and a short period of training, he embarked from Sydney for active service on 9 April 1916 on the troopship Nestor. During the voyage, he was transferred into the reinforcements for the 45th Battalion.

After a brief stop in Alexandria, Private McManus arrived in the French port city of Marseilles in early June 1916. He was immediately sent north to the Somme Valley which had been the site of heavy fighting since 1914. He was taken on strength with the rest of his unit the following month and took part in additional training.

By August 1916, the 45th Battalion was preparing to head into the trenches for the first time near the French village of Pozieres, where allied units had been fighting since July. They relieved the men of the 17th, 18th and 19th Battalions in the front lines on 5 August, coming under increasingly hostile fire from the enemy’s trenches.

Over the days that followed, the battalion repulsed several German counter-attacks. They were relieved from front-line duty on 8 August, and while making their way back behind the lines, a shell hit a nearby ammunition dump. The explosion wounded McManus in his head, chest, and both legs. He was taken by field ambulance to the nearest hospital in an unconscious state. He reached the city of Rouen later that day, but little could be done for him and he died of his wounds on the stretcher.

McManus was buried the following day at Warloy-Ballion Communal Cemetery where he lies today beneath the words chosen by his grieving mother:

“Have mercy upon him, oh Lord, 
and let perpetual light shine upon him.”

Private Owen McManus was 23 years old.

• Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1649322