Donal Leo Kearney (1896–1981)
Donal Leo Kearney, n.d. photographer unknown
from Bank of NSW Roll of Honour
ONAL LEO KEARNEY was born at Eulo, Queensland, on 4th December, 1896, the son of Mr. James Anderson Kearney and Mrs. Winifred Mary Kearney. He was educated at Mareeba, and joined the Bank’s staff at Atherton on 5th June, 1915, removing to Townsville in the following month.
Donal Kearney had been a lieutenant in the Mareeba Cadet Force at seventeen. At the age of twenty he enlisted in the A.I.F. (July, 1916) and left Australia as provisional sergeant with the 6th Reinforcements for the 41 st Battalion in December, 1916. He reverted to the ranks on arrival in England and joined his battalion in France in June, 1917, where he won promotion to corporal in the following August.
He was in action up to the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux on 22nd May, 1918, when he was wounded. After recovering in England, Donal Kearney joined the 11th Machine Gun Company just before the Armistice. He returned to Australia as sergeant in the Australian Army Pay Corps in September, 1919.
Original Publication
Additional Resources and Scholarship
- World War I service record, item B2455, KEARNEY DONALD LEO (National Archives of Australia)
Related Entries in NCB Sites
- Kearney, James Hugh (brother)
Citation details
'Kearney, Donal Leo (1896–1981)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/kearney-donal-leo-21560/text31794, accessed 31 January 2025.
Donal Leo Kearney, n.d. photographer unknown
from Bank of NSW Roll of Honour
Life Summary [details]
Birth
4 December,
1896
Eulo,
Queensland,
Australia
Death
1981
(aged ~ 84)
Queensland,
Australia
Cultural Heritage
Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.
Religious Influence
Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.