Connolly, Mark
No.198 – Sapper Mark Connolly – 3rd Field Company Engineers AIF
Mark Connolly was born in Galway Ireland in 1872 to Mary Connolly. He grew up in Ireland and worked as a labourer and bricklayer. With his brother John he moved out to Australia taking up residence in NSW and settled for a time in the Richmond River district.
While in NSW Mark joined the NSW Artillery and served with them for two years. His brother John had married Bridget and had they had four sons. The Connolly’s all soon moved to Western Australia and took up residence in Perth Road (Stirling Hwy) North Fremantle, with Mark working as a bricklayer.
When war was declared in August 1914 Mark was one of the first from the district to enlist. On the 14th August 1914 Mark went to the Perth Recruitment Office and offered his services to the AIF.
Despite being 42 years old, he was fully fit and was accepted into the 3rd Field Company Engineers with the regimental number 198. The medical officer found Mark to be 5 feet 11 inches in height; weight of 169 lbs; chest measurement of 39-41 inches; ruddy complexion; blue eyes and grey hair. His religious denomination was Roman Catholic.
Mark was immediately allotted to No.3 Section of the 3rd Field Company Engineers, No.1 & 2 Sections being filled by Queenslanders & South Australians. No.3 Section of the 3rd Field Company Engineers trained in WA until the end of October 1914 when they were told to prepare for departure. They were soon entrained from Blackboy Hill Camp to Fremantle and boarded the transport ship H.M.A.T. “Medic” on the 2nd November 1914.
After his arrival in Egypt, Mark’s section of the 3rd FCE joined up with the sections from the other states to form the complete unit for the first time. They trained in Egypt until April 1915 when they were sent to Lemnos Island off the Turkish Coast. While in Egypt they had taken part in the defence of the Suez Canal zone and were the only Australian unit involved at the Suez Canal when Turkish forces attacked in February 1915. They trained here for a few more weeks and were joined by other Australian, British and French troops for the landing.
On April 25th the landings took place, though the Field Engineers did not land at the same time as the infantry. They did land later in the day and helped to set up the trenches and other defences. Mark served at Anzac Cove until the 7th July 1915 when he was mortally wounded by a bullet to the head. He was evacuated back to the beach but soon died of his wounds. He was buried in the Beach Cemetery in plot II.D.4.
His nephews also served in the war, with his namesake Mark being killed with the 44th Battalion AIF as a result of the Hamel attack on the 4th July 1918. Another Nephew, J.P. Connolly was reported to have retrieved his Uncle’s body from No Man’s Land at Gallipoli and taken him to the field ambulance.
After Mark Connolly was killed in July 1915 his mother Mary received a pension but this ceased upon her death in 1916, though his sister, also Mary, of Flood Street, Galway Ireland, was granted a pension of 10/- per fortnight after Mark’s death. His brother in North Fremantle would receive his war medals