Profile

O'CONNOR, Michael
(Service number 6/1071)

Aliases	Michael James
First Rank	Private	Last Rank

Birth

Date	Unknown	Place of Birth	Hazelburn

Enlistment Information

Date		Age
Address at Enlistment	Cricklewood
Occupation
Previous Military Experience	2nd S.C. Regiment of Territorials
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	J. O'CONNOR (father), Cricklewood, Canterbury
Religion
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with	NZ Armed Forces	Served in
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation	Main Body
Unit, Squadron, or Ship	Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date	16 October 1914
Transport	Tahiti or Athenic
Embarked From	Lyttelton, Canterbury	Destination	Suez, Egypt

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date		Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Wounded May 1915.

Post-war Occupations

Labourer; photographer

Death

Date	16 September 1967	Age	76 yrs
Place of Death
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery	Karori Cemetery, Wellington
Memorial Reference	Roman Catholic Section, Plot 76R
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Sixth son of Patrick O'CONNOR and Catherine nee KEANE, of Cricklewood. One of the first of the Mackenzie County men to enlist at the outbreak of the war. Michael left Timaru with the Infantry Contingent by the first express on 17 August 1914 after parading at the Drill Shed and being addressed by Archdeacon Jacob, who trusted God would guide and protect them, and the Deputy-Mayor (Mr W. A. Pearson), who said that all must "feel very proud to see that so many of the young men had volunteered to serve their country in this the greatest crisis they had ever known." and he wished them God speed and a safe and speedy return. His brother Patrick Martin (Martin) O'CONNOR served in the South African War. In 1914 Martin was seriously hurt in the accident in which Colonel Hayhurst lost his life. Another brother Thomas died in December 1914. His brother William Louis O'CONNOR also served in WWI. Michael was educated at Hazelburn and Cricklewood schools. In 1924 Michael married Annie FRIEL whose brothers also served in WWI.

Sources

Cenotaph Database [05 August 2013]; Timaru Herald, 18 August 1914, 17 May 1915, 18 May 1915 (Papers Past) [19 November 2013; 13 December 2013; 12 September 2014]; Wellington City Council burial records & headstone image (Karori Cemetery) [13 April 2014]

External Links

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