Kelly, Arthur Oswald
1115 Gunner Arthur Oswald Kelly - 36th Heavy Artillery Group
Arthur Oswald Kelly was born in Mordialloc Victoria on the 17th April 1897 to James and Emmeline Kelly, being one of six siblings born into the family.
The family came to WA in 1900 and his father died in Cottesloe in May 1901. Hs mother then remarried to John Mackinnon in Fremantle in 1904. They lived in Mason Street North Fremantle. Arthur was educated in Fremantle and also saw service in the Cadets. After leaving school Arthur took up work locally as a labourer and also began service with the 11th Australian Garrison Artillery. Prior to the Great War the family had moved to Elvira Street East Fremantle/Palmyra.
With the outbreak of the Great War, the men of the 11th Garrison Artillery including Arthur, assisted the men of the Australian Permanent Forces who belonged to the Garrison Artillery, to man Fort Forrest in North Fremantle and the Arthur Head Fort. They had their HQ at the Fremantle Artillery Barracks.
In June 1915 the Permanent Gunners enlisted en masse and helped form the 36th Heavy Artillery Group which would serve in France from early 1916. When the permanent Gunners departed Australia, their place was taken at the forts by the Gunners of the Citizens Military Forces such as Arthur.
In Fremantle the men of the 11th AGA took over the roles of manning Fort Forrest and Arthur Head from June 1915. This meant that these men were not able to enlist as they were on home service. However the Australian Siege Batteries were in action in France from February 1916 onwards and due to casualties and sickness, they would soon need reinforcements and from 1916 onwards the Gunners such as Arthur were able to enlist for service overseas.
On the 15th June 1917 Arthur enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for service, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 8 & 1/2 inches tall;
Weight - 148lbs;
Chest Measurement - 36 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Brown.
After his successful enlistment, Arthur was sent to NSW to complete his training with the other reinforcements to the Siege Artillery. On the 9th November 1917 Arthur and his group left Sydney Harbour aboard the transport ship HMAT Demosthenes. The ship then set sail for UK, arriving at Glasgow on the 31st December 1917.
Arthur and his group were then disembarked and entrained for Parkhouse Camp, reaching there on the 1st January 1918. On the 5th February 1918 Arthur was then transferred to the Artillery Signal School at Heytesbury Camp. Arthur would be based here for the next few months but on the 25th May 1918 he was sent across to France.
He was taken on strength of the 1st Siege Battery on the 8th June 1918. The Australian Siege Batteries were then situated in Northern France supporting the Australian and British in their defence against the Germans. While the 1st Australian Division infantry departed for the Somme in late July 1918, the Australian Siege Battery remained in the northern sector and supported the British and New Zealand infantry in their breakout attacks against the Germans in August, September and October 1918.
When the armistice was signed in November 1918, many of the gun crew had been put onto tasks such as repairing bridges. Arthur served with the 1st Siege Battery through to the 18th May 1919. He then returned to England and was then sent to No.2 Group Camp at Sutton Veny. Arthur would be here for the next several weeks.
On the 12th July 1919 he boarded the transport ship City of Exeter and set sail for home, arriving at Fremantle on the 16th August 1919. He was then discharged from the AIF on the 9th September 1919.
He then returned home to Palmyra. His mother died in October 1923 in Palmyra and Arthur worked around the state, working at a whaling station at Port Cloates on the Ningaloo coast and then found employment at Ora Banda
In between working in the north west, Arthur had been living at Bond Street North Fremantle and then Kenny street in Cottesloe Beach.
Arthur was married in 1930 in Fremantle to Lily Ethel Lee. They lived at 163 Canning Road East Fremantle but sadly his wife Lily died in Fremantle in 1936. After his wife's death Arthur returned to Ora Banda before heading to South Australia for work.
Athur died on the 30th May 1946 in Port Augusta South Australia.