Albert Edward KENNETT
Year of Birth: 1886
Place of Birth: Leighton, Bedford, England
Date of Enlistment: 3 June 1915
Date and Place of Embarkation: 1 July 1915 Sydney, New South Wales
Ship: HMAT Orsova A67
Rank: Sergeant
Unit(s): Australian Army Medical Corps
Regimental Number: 1646
Died: 31 December 1916
Albert Edward Kennett was born in Leighton, Bedford, England to James Dalton Kennett and Eleanor Bale. He arrived at Rockhampton Queensland on the “Jumna” with his parents and sister Ethel. Two more sisters and three brothers were born after the family arrived, some in Clermont and some later in Warwick Queensland.
By 1905 the family had settled in Warwick on the southern Darling Downs where Albert’s father was an ambulance superintendent.
In June 1914, Albert joined the staff of the Warwick Q.A.T.B as a Probationer and qualified for his St John’s Certificate in November 1914. In April 1915, he was appointed junior bearer. He became Deputy Superintendent and motor driver in February 1913; a position he held at Warwick till appointed to Cairns on the resignation of Superintendent Hogan.
On 26 December 1914, a function was held at the Warwick Ambulance Centre to farewell Mr Kennett.
He was only in Cairns a few short months before enlisting in the Australian Army Medical Corps in June 1915 and embarking on the HMAT Orsova.
On his enlistment, he was Superintendent of Ambulance in Cairns. He was 28 years of age, 5 ft 9 ½ inches tall, weighed 137 lbs with a fresh complexion, grey eyes and dark hair. He was Church of England and named his father his next of kin.
He joined the British Expeditionary Force at Alexandria, Egypt in April 1916 before moving on to Marseilles, France. He was admitted to hospital with influenza on 30 August 1916, returned to duty in early September but was readmitted to 1st General Hospital, Rouen, France on 27 December 1916 with pneumonia and died on 31 December 1916. He was buried at the St Sever Cemetery Extension, Haute-Normandie, France.
Online Resources
NAA: B2455, Kennett A.E., National Archives of Australia
Photograph of HMAT Orsova A67
National Library of Australia: Trove Digitised Newspapers
Photograph of A.E. Kennett, Northern Herald 5 February 1915
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