The Killion, Quinn and Hand Families of Port Macquarie and Kempsey and their Feeney Family

The story of Private Thomas Arthur Feeney was published on Anzac Day 2018.  You can read it  here.   After reading this, his great niece, Christine, told me about the First World War experience of Thomas's younger brother, William Leslie Feeney. Thomas Arthur and William Leslie are the two oldest sons of William Feeney (our Jane's nephew and son of her brother, Thomas) and Elizabeth Marion Faulds who had 12 children.   William was born on 14 June 1897 at Marrickville.  He enlisted on 6 March 1916, eight months after his older brother Thomas, and joined the 13th Infantry Battalion, 19th to 23rd Reinforcement of the Australian Imperial Force.  The unit left Sydney on 22 August 1916 on the HMAT Wiltshire A18 bound for England and further training.  William arrived in France in mid February 1917 and was reported missing on 11 April 1917.  Less than a month later, on 5 May 1917, Thomas was killed in France. William was taken pris...

With the opening of the Sir John Monash Centre at Villers-Bretonneaux today, I'll be remembering Thomas Arthur Feeney whose story seems to be barely recorded from my research in our Feeney family.   He was the grandson of Thomas Feeney ("our Jane's" brother) and Julia Cooke.  So "our Jane" was Thomas's great-aunt. Thomas was born on 7 May 1895 at Marrickville, NSW.  He was the oldest son and third of the twelve children of William Feeney (1868 to 1935) and Elizabeth Marion Faunds (1869 to 1955).   Thomas enlisted for the First World War on 14 August 1915 when he was 20.  He served in the 2nd Battalion, 12 Reinforcement of the Australian Imperial Force.  His unit embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A7 Medic on 31 December 1915.  They was briefly in Egypt before they sailed for France, arriving in Marseilles on 28 March 1916.   On 9 July 1916, Thomas received a gun shot wound to his left foot and was hospitalised for a period.  He ...

Anzac Day goes beyond the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915. It is the day on which we remember all Australians who served and died in war and on operational service past and present. The spirit of Anzac, with its qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity. John Maurice (Jack) Porter was born on 21 August 1919 at Lidcombe, NSW.  Jack was the fourth child of Clement William (Clem) Porter and Effie Maud Wright and the grandson of Rose Porter (nee Killion).  The family moved to Goulburn when Jack was 10. After Jack finished school, he worked at the local wool stores.  Times were difficult as this was towards the end of the Great Depression.   When Australian entered the Second World War, Jack enlisted and was a member of the 2/3 Battalion, 16th Brigade of the 6th Australian Division.   Jack was 20 and was on the first troop ship to leave Australia on 10 ...