David KELLS
David KELLS (1872-1957) was born in Tomerong to Robert KELLS and Ellen BARTON and was the brother of Robert William KELLS and Thomas KELLS. This was the same year his father died aged only 41 leaving a wife and seven children. Both his parents had been born in Ireland and they married in the Shoalhaven in 1858. They had bought 40 acres, Portion 156, south west of the village on Suffolk Creek, about 1870, and moved there after being wiped out by the Shoalhaven River floods, near Longreach, in the 1860s and in 1870.
Following the outbreak of the war in 1914, the British were concerned that the Wireless Stations in the German colonies of the south west Pacific would aid the German East Asian Cruiser Squadron in attacking and sinking allied ships. To counter this, the 1st Battalion of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) was formed to capture and destroy these stations.
Private David Kells joined B Company of the 3rd Battalion, Tropical Force at Townsville on 21 October 1915, almost fifteen months after the war was declared. The Townsville Daily Bulletin reported that ‘four volunteers left by the ‘Morialta’ on Thursday night for Enoggera’ including ‘David Kells of Cloncurry’. Cloncurry is near Mount Isa, 800km west of Townsville. David was single, aged 43, listed his occupation as a labourer and his next of kin as his brother, Robert William Kells of Tomerong. (After the war he was to state his former occupation as a miner and hospital wardsman.)
By the 20 November 1915, David Kells had arrived in Rabaul. Rabual is on the island of New Britain, part of the Bismarck Archipelago, east of the main island of New Guinea. The garrison of about 600 men was to remain an occupying force for the duration of the war. David, however, did not remain. In June 1916 he contracted Malaria at Eitape (Aitape on the north of the main island of Papua New Guinea, then called Kaiser Wilhelms Land) and was also suffering from synovitis (inflammation) of the left knee. He was returned to Australia in mid November having spent twelve months in New Guinea. He was assessed in Sydney as being unfit for military duty and was discharged on 10 January 1917.
David had married Johanna (Dotti of Rockhampton?) and when Johanna died in September 1943 he was a member of the United Grand Lodge of Queensland, a Freemasonry organisation. David Kells died in 1957 in Brisbane aged 85. He is commemorated on the Nowra Showground Memorial Gates Honour Roll. [1]
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Notes and References
- ↑ Tomerong Anzacs "I've had my fling" : the story of the men who enlisted for World War I associated with the NSW South Coast village of Tomerong (v4.5) TP4828. R Blair, Tomerong, N.S.W. Tomerong Genealogy Database R656.
Images
- See images under Robert William KELLS
- Kells Story TP5912.
- Shoalhaven Honor Roll TP3410.
- School Certificate TP5044.
- Rabaul Map TP5044.
- Origin Map TP6266.
Links
- Tomerong Local History Web Page- tomeronghistory.com
- Tomerong Past Facebook Album- Tomerong Past Facebook This site may provide more information relative to this family. Check the 'Families' and 'Monuments' albums and those institutions that the family contributed to e.g. 'School', 'Anzacs', etcetera.
- Tomerong Anzacs TP4828- Tomerong Anzacs
- KELLS Family Links to this family's biographies.
