Sapper killed at Pozieres

BRICKLAYER John Cleary was 20 when he married Olive Ware in December 1914 and their son Elton was born the following year.

Even as a married man and father, he needed to provide written permission from his own parents when he enlisted for World War I in August 1915 as he was not yet 21.

He was born in November 1894, the third son of John and Regina Cleary.

John left Sydney in November 1915 and arrived at Tel El Kebir, Egypt, at the end of December and was appointed a sapper (combat engineer) with the 3rd Field Company Engineers. At the end of April 1916, the unit was transferred to the British Expedit ionary Force and sailed from Alexandria to Marseilles in France.

On the night of July 22, 1916, his unit was out near the front line preparing for the battle of Pozieres which was to start the next morning.

As they made their way to the front the men were attacked with shrapnel, high explosive shells and gas shells.

Over the next few days, 113 of the engineers would be killed in action. Among them was John Cleary. His name appears on the memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France, for those whose remains have never been found.

John’s younger brother Selby was wounded in the same battle but survived the war and died of his wounds in 1928. Sapper John Henry Cleary is remembered at tree 76 on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue and on the Hobart Town Hall honour board.