CUDDIHY, John Thomas

CUDDIHY, John Thomas – A Southern Downs Veteran

CONFLICT : WWI
SERVICE NO : 3779
RANK : Private
UNIT : 31st Battalion
ENLISTMENT DATE : 10/09/1915
AGE : 18
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT : Toowoomba, Queensland
PLACE OF BIRTH : Mountside, Queensland
RELIGION : Roman Catholic
OCCUPATION : Farmer
DATE OF DEATH : 25/10/1916
PLACE OF BURIAL : Flers, France

MEMORIALS : Dalveen WWI Honour Boards, Warwick War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour

View Veteran’s Service File : CUDDIHY, John Thomas

NOTES :

John Thomas Cuddihy was the second child of John Joseph and Margaret (nee Cleary) Cuddihy of Mountainside and Glen Eden, Dalveen.

Single and having just turned eighteen years old, John who was working as a farmer and part time railway worker, decided to join other young men from the Dalveen area and go off to war.

A member of the 31st Battalion, he left Brisbane on January 31, 1916 aboard HMAT Wandilla A62. He was wounded by a shell explosion in the right shoulder in France on July 21, 1916.

John proceeded to rejoin his unit on August 15, 1916. While on an advance as part of the ration party, he was killed instantly by a high explosive shell. He was buried in a Support Trench at Flers, France with five other soldiers who had been killed from the same explosion.

John is buried in AIF Burial Ground, Grass Lane, Flers, Picardie, France.

Read about Southern Downs Military History here.