Percy Samuel McDONOUGH
Year of Birth: 1891
Place of Birth: Ravenswood, Queensland, Australia
Date of Enlistment: 25 March 1916
Date and Place of Embarkation: 21 October 1916 at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Ship: HMAT Boonah A36
Rank: Private
Unit(s): 25 Infantry Battalion
Regimental Number: 5874
Died: 4 October 1917
Percy Samuel McDonough was born in Ravenswood North Queensland to John Michael McDonough and his wife Katherine Mary (Kate) nee Miller. He was one of 5 sons and had 4 sisters, ie, Elizabeth Esther (b. 1884), James William (b. 1885), John Arthur (b. 1886), Kathleen Mary (b. 1888), Percy Samuel (b. 1891), Frederick Mathew (b. 1893), Annie Amelia (b. 1895), George Michael (b. 1897) and Margaret Bride (b. 1904).
His older brother, James, enlisted shortly after Percy and was killed in action in France on 29 September 1918.
When Percy enlisted on 25 March 1916, he was 24 years 8 months of age, 5 feet 6 inches tall with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. His religion was Roman Catholic. He named his mother, Kate, as his next of kin. His occupation was Carter.
Private Carter embarked from Brisbane on 21 October 1916 on the HMAT Boonah.
He arrived in Plymouth, England on 10 January 1917. Within a few weeks, he was admitted to Fargo Military Hospital, Larkhill Salisbury Plain suffering from influenza. When he was discharged a week later, he joined the 7th Training Battalion at Rollestone. Two months later he was again admitted to Fargo Hospital with otitis media, an ailment which resulted in several more hospital admissions before he left Southampton on 14 June 1917 for Havre, France.
He joined his unit on 3 July 1917 and was reported missing in action on 4 October and a Court of Enquiry subsequently found him killed in action.
He was buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendaele, Flanders, Belgium.
His personal effects were returned to his mother and, eventually, his War Medals, on condition that they go to his father if he eventually claimed them. His mother had advised the authorities that she didn’t know her husband’s whereabouts.
Online Resources
NAA: B2455 (McDONOUGH P S) National Archives of Australia
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
National Library of Australia: Trove Digitised Newspapers
Australian Light Horse Studies Centre
Queensland Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages
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