Profile

KEANE, Joseph
(Service number (1) 4/124; (2) 12798)

Aliases
First Rank	(1) Sapper; (2) Driver	Last Rank	Sapper

Birth

Date	28/03/1894	Place of Birth	Waimate

Enlistment Information

Date	(1) 10 August 1914; (2) 9 February 1916	Age	(1) 20 years 5 months; (2) 21 years 11 months
Address at Enlistment	(1) Care Mrs Foster, Exeter Street, Lyttelton; (2) C/o N Z Railways, Lyttelton
Occupation	Railway porter
Previous Military Experience	N Z Railways Engineers; (2) Samoan Expeditionary Force
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	(1) Mrs KEANE, King Street, Waimate; (2) Mrs Johanna KEANE (mother), King Street, Waimate
Religion	Roman Catholic
Medical Information	(1) Height 5 feet 7 inches. Weight 148 lbs. Chest measurement 36-38 inches. Complexion dark. Eyes blue. Hair dark. (2) Height 5 feet 6 inches. weight 144 lbs. Chest measurement 34½-36½ inches. Complexion fair. Eyes blue. Hair fair. Sight, hearing and colour vision all normal. Limbs well formed. Full and perfect movement of joints. Chest well formed. Heart and lungs normal. Teeth good. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, invetrate or contagious skin disease. Vaccinated. Good bodily and mental health. No slight defects. No illnesses. No fits. A very suitable man.

Military Service

Served with	NZ Armed Forces	Served in	Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation	(1) Samoan Advance Party; (2) New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship	(1) Railway Engineers; (2)13th Reinforcements New Zealand Field Artillery
Date	(1) 15 August 1914; (2) 27 May 1916
Transport	(1) Moeraki or Monowai; (2) Willochra or Tofa
Embarked From	(1) Wellington; (2) Wellington	Destination	(1) Apia, Samoa; (2) Plymouth or Devonport, England

Other Units Served With	Samoan Advance
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns	Samoa, Western European
Service Medals	1914-15 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal
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	17 September 1919	Reason	Termination of period of engagement.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Railway signalman

Death

Date	22 July 1960	Age	66 years
Place of Death	Lyttelton
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery	Lyttelton Catholic Cemetery
Memorial Reference	Block South, Plot 1.15
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Joseph KEANE was the son of Mrs Johannah KEANE of King Street, Waimate. He was born to Daniel KEANE and his second wife, Johanna née CARROLL. Joseph's oldest brother died in 1918 during the influenza epidemic. Joseph Keane was born at Waimate on 28 March 1894. He was the son of Daniel Keane and his second wife Johanna (nee Carrol) of Manse St, Waimate, previously from Kerry, Ireland. Joseph was baptised on 1 April 1894 at St Patrick's Catholic Church, Waimate. Joseph worked as a railway porter and enlisted twice during the First World War, first as part of the Samoan Advance Party in 1914. The Occupation of Samoa was the takeover – and subsequent administration – of the Pacific colony of German Samoa by New Zealand during the First World War. It started in late August 1914 with landings by the Samoa Expeditionary Force from New Zealand. The landings were unopposed and the New Zealanders took possession of Samoa for the New Zealand Government on behalf of King Georve V. The Samoa Expeditionary Force remained in the country until 1915, while its commander, Colonel Robert Logan, continued to administer Samoa on behalf of the New Zealand Government until 1919. The takeover of Samoa was New Zealand's first military action in World War I. Joseph re-enlisted in 1916, embarking 27 May 1916, and served overseas with 12th Reinforcements, NZ Field Artillery. When Joseph enlisted for the second time, the medical officer declared him "A very suitable man."

At the end of the war, tragedy struck Daniel's family - his oldest brother died in 1918 during the influenza epidemic. Ten years after Joseph returned from the war he married Mary Margaret Elizabeth Lufaro in 1929. The couple lived in Lyttelton, where Joseph worked as a railway signalman. He died 22 July 1960 and is buried at Lyttelton.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [x 2{ [24 November 2014]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5541 0062740) [17 June 2015]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [27 November 2014]; Oamaru Mail, 11 February 1903 (Papers Past) [03 October 2015]; Christchurch Catholic Diocese Baptisms Index CD (held by South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [18 October 2015]

External Links

Researched and Written by

Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.