Queensland Police and the Great War Effort, a project by Dr Anastasia Dukova, a policing historian, connects personal, police and war service stories and histories of the Queensland Policemen who left active police duty to volunteer in the Australian Imperial Force, 1914-1918. An estimated total of 128 policemen applied for leave from police duty to volunteer to fight in the First World War.
Constable Thomas McGillycuddy was one of these policemen. McGillycuddy, the youngest of five children, was born in June 1891 in small townland of Carhoobeg, County Kerry to Irish and English-speaking parents, Margaret and Timothy.[i] The McGillycuddies were a Roman Catholic family and lived on a farmstead. At 19 Thomas was living in his parents’ three-room house and worked on the family farm.[ii]
Census of Ireland, 1911 (A)
In 1913, Thomas left Ireland for Australia, arriving in Sydney in March on Westralia.[iii] A few months later he applied to join the Queensland Police Force in Brisbane. On 30 September 1913, Supernumerary McGillycuddy, described as 5 feet and 9 inches tall, of ruddy complexion with brown hair and brown eyes, was sworn in into the QPF (Reg No 1784). His only recorded transfer was to Bundaberg.[iv]
T. McGillicuddy, New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922.
In August 1915, after barely two years in the service, McGillycuddy enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force, 45th Battalion (initially 47th, Reg No 2770).[v] Aged 24, he embarked on HMT Minnewaska and left for Gallipoli. Following over four months of training near Cairo, he departed for Gallipoli peninsula, landing at what became known as Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. Thomas was one of few ANZACs to have survived the disastrous campaign; 8709 Australians were killed during the Gallipoli Campaign, between 25 April 1915 and 8 January 1916.[vi]
Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Anzac Area (Gallipoli), Anzac Beaches Area, Anzac Beach (AWM A03868).
On Christmas Day 1915, he disembarked as an ex-Anzac at Alexandria. Three months later, he was taken on strength of 47th Battalion, AIF. In June 1916, McGillycuddy proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Forces, arriving in Marseille later that month. Throughout 1916-17, Thomas sustained a number of serious injuries on the Western Front. In August 1916, he was severely wounded in action by a shrapnel in his left hip and right foot and had to be transferred to Dublin for treatment. In September, Thomas was discharged to duty at the AIF Command Depot No 1, Perham Downs after convalescing at the Central Military Hospital in Cork. The next day he was granted a furlough for a fortnight.
In mid-1917, McGillycuddy was back in France where he was shot again and wounded in the left arm and admitted to General Hospital in Rouen, Normandy, France. In October 1917, upon his release from the hospital he joined a Depot at Le Havre, Normandy. There, he was charged with being out of bounds in a town without a pass. He was sentenced to 14 days Field Punishment No 2 by the Commanding Officer for the offence.
McGillycuddy was granted a month-long leave to the UK, between March and April 1918. In May, he was taken on strength with the 45th Battalion in France. Six weeks later, Thomas McGillycuddy was killed in action during the Battle of Hamel, just four months and three days before the Armistice.
Thomas is buried at Villers-Bretonneux, Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France.
Villers-Bretonneux, Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France.
[i] Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864-1958, Vol 5, p. 257.
[ii] Census of Ireland, 1911.
[iii] New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922.
[iv] Register of Members of the Queensland Police, 1895-1917 and 1879-1924
[v] NAA B2455
[vi] AWM
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This information was researched and written for the Police Museum Blog by Police Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Email: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – Queensland Police ANZACs: Constable Thomas McGillycuddy (Jun 1891 – 8 Jul 1918)” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode