Herbert Dean O'Connell (7 September 1885 – 17 October 1917) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He died of wounds sustained in action as a member of the First AIF, in World War I.[1]
| Bert O'Connell | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Herbert Dean O'Connell | ||
| Date of birth | 7 September 1885 | ||
| Place of birth | Windsor, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 17 October 1917 (aged 32) | ||
| Place of death | Broodseinde, Passchendaele salient, Belgium | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1908 | St Kilda | 2 (0) | |
| 1909 | Footscray (VFA) | 16 (6) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1908. | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Family
editThe son of Walter James O'Connell, and Annie Jane O'Connell (1857–1899), née Kemp,[2][3] Herbert Dean O'Connell was born at Windsor, Victoria on 7 September 1885.
He married Ruby Evelyn Henderson (1890–?) on 17 June 1916 at All Saints Anglican Church, East St Kilda.[4]
Football
editRecruited from the South Yarra Amateur Football Club in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (MJFA)[broken anchor], he made his VFL debut, on the wing, with the St Kilda First XVIII in the round 17 match against Fitzroy, at the Junction Oval, 15 August 1908.[5][6]
His second, and final match for St Kilda was in the round 18 match against Richmond, the final home-and-away game of the 1908 season, held on 5 September 1908 (the competition had been suspended for two weeks to accommodate the 1908 Melbourne Carnival).
The following season O'Connell played with Footscray in the Victorian Football Association.[7][8]
Military service
editEmployed as an etcher, O'Connell enlisted in the First AIF on 14 February 1916, and he embarked for Europe on 1 August 1916 after completing basic training.
After serving in England as a bayonet instructor in early 1917, O'Connell was transferred to the 60th Battalion on 8 October 1917.
Death
editOn 17 October 1917, having been fatally wounded by a shell in the front line trenches at Broodseinde Ridge, east of Ypres, he died of his wounds.[9][10]
Burial
editA letter, written to O'Connell's wife, Ruby, dated 5 September 1921,[11] informed her that there was now "little doubt" that the individual interred as a (previously unidentified) corporal was "identical with" O'Connell, and that, as a consequence, "the Imperial War Graves Commission have decided to erect over the grave [of the previously unidentified corporal] a provisional cross marked "Believed to be 2236, Cpl.H.D.O'Donnell, 60th Battalion, A.I.F."."
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Holmesby (2014), p.666.
- ^ Marriages: O'Connell—Kemp, The Argus, (Tuesday, 31 December 1878), p.1.
- ^ Deaths: O'Connell, The Australasian, (Saturday, 10 June 1899), p.55.
- ^ Marriages: O'Connell—Henderson, The Argus, (Saturday, 5 August 1916), p.13.
- ^ Today's Matches: Fitzroy vs. St Kilda, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Saturday, 15 August 1908), pp.5, 6.
- ^ St. Kilda's Place Secure, The Argus, (Monday, 17 August 1908), p.8; The League, The Prahran Telegraph, (Saturday, 22 August 1908), p.5.
- ^ "Bert O'Connell". The VFA Project.
- ^ "A FOOTBALLER FALLS". The Footscray Advertiser. No. 2313. Victoria, Australia. 22 December 1917. p. 3.
- ^ Died on Service: O'Connell, The Argus, (Saturday, 15 December 1917), p11.
- ^ Cullen (2015), p.55.
- ^ See Service Record.
References
edit- First World War Nominal Roll: Sergeant Herbert Dean O'Connell (2236), Australian War Memorial.
- First World War Embarkation Roll: Private Herbert Dean O'Connell (2236), Australian War Memorial.
- First World War Service Record: Corporal Herbert Dean O'Connell (2236), National Archives of Australia.
- Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files: Corporal Herbert Dean O'Connell (2236), Australian War Memorial Collection.
- Roll of Honour: Corporal Herbert Dean O'Connell (2236), Australian War Memorial.
- Corporal H.D. O'Connell (2236), Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
- Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
- Cullen, Barbara (2015). Harder than football : league players at war. Richmond, Victoria: Slattery Media Group. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-992379-14-8.
External links
edit- Bert O'Connell's playing statistics from AFL Tables