Anthony Joseph Riley

Private

Conflict:

WW1

Additional Information:

Son of Thomas and Mary Jane Riley.

References:

CWGC

Archives New Zealand

NZ WAR GRAVES

CONTRIBUTED

Grace and Edmund le Grelle placing a poppy on Tony's headstone, Anzac Day 2019

Planting of memorial oak tree and cross for Tony Riley at Enfield on 18 August 2002 by relatives: Frank le Grelle, Robert Telfer, Edmund le Grelle, Muriel Mills and Patty Greene

The row of memorial oak trees at Enfield, 2005. Tony's oak tree is shown closest on the left in this photo

The row of memorial oak trees at Enfield, 29 December 2011. Tony's oak tree is shown nearest.

Grace and Edmund le Grelle beside Tony's oak tree and cross, Enfield, 30 December 2017

Robert Telfer, (grandson of a cousin of Tony's), beside Tony's oak tree and cross, Enfield, Anzac Day 2018.

Public Contributions:

Submitted by: Edmund le Grelle

Relationship to casualty: Great Grandson of Cousin of Tony Riley

Biography of Anthony (Tony) Joseph Riley. Anthony Joseph Riley was born on 21 March 1896 in Creek Street, Homebush, Sydney, Australia. His parents, Thomas Riley and Mary Jane Feeney, had married earl...y the previous year in Sydney, and both were natives of Ireland. Tragedy continued to occur in Tony’s family, with both parents, his sister and all but one of his six half siblings dying by 1906. It is believed that Tony was placed in an orphanage, and he seems to have had minimal contact in Sydney with his surviving half-sister Maggie. Relatives of Tony’s father lived in Oamaru and Tony must have kept in touch with them. The Oamaru Reilly’s (or O’Reilly’s) – note the slightly different spelling of the surname – had left Belmullet, County Mayo in Ireland in 1879. This was the same year that Tony’s father and his father’s first wife had emigrated, but it is unknown why Sydney was the destination for Tony’s father. Having more family for close support in Oamaru would have been a strong factor in Tony, at age 19, deciding to shift to NZ On 24 September 1915, Tony had the priest from St Mary’s Catholic Parish, Concord, Sydney, write a letter testifying his date of birth from the baptismal register. This letter would have been requested just before Tony left Australia for New Zealand. Tony arrived in Oamaru, probably in October 1915, and initially stayed at the home of his uncle, Patrick Reilly and his wife Bridget at 24 Trent Street. He was soon employed on the farm of Mr JT Mahoney, located between Whitstone and Enfield on corner of Weston Ngapara Road and Twaddle Road. Just a couple of weeks after achieving the minimum age of 20, Tony passed a medical examination in Oamaru on 3 April 1916, and was enlisted as a Private at Trentham on 6 April as part of D Company of the 15th Reinforcements. Tony’s army number was 15240. He enlisted at the same time as his cousin David Keane (#15185). (Dave Keane’s mother and Tony’s father were siblings. Dave was also from Oamaru and grew up in Ardgowan). Tony sailed with the 15th Reinforcements on the SS Waitemata (Troopship 59), from Wellington on 26 July 1916 and went via Albany (Western Australia) and Cape Town, before arriving in Devonport, Plymouth, England on 3 October 1916. The next few months saw Tony in training in England but a couple of episodes of sickness delayed his deployment to the Western Front. He eventually departed England on 28 May 1917 as part of the 10th (North Otago) Company, 3rd Battalion of the Otago Infantry Regiment, which was part of the newly formed 4th NZ Infantry Brigade. A letter home states that Tony had joined a Lewis Gun team. His well written letters home often mention the poor weather, lack of mail (especially from his sister in Australia), but also contain a lot of fondness for his family in Oamaru and often for his four Oamaru cousins who were also fighting on the Western Front. Visits of the NZ Prime Minister and the introduction of conscription are also noted. Tony wrote that he was also planning to travel over to see where his father’s family emigrated from in Ireland. Tony’s 4th Infantry Brigade (and 3rd Otago Battalion) took part in the successful offensive on 4th October 1917 at Broodseinde near Passchendaele. The NZ Division still suffered over 1,800 casualties that day. From Tony’s letter, it wouldn’t appear that he was part of ‘going over the top’. His army record states he was in the reinforcement camp until 26 October. A letter dated 30 October 1917 is the last known letter written by Tony Riley. At this time the NZ Division was fighting near Ypres and Passchendaele, in Flanders, Belgium. From 14 November it relieved the 21st Division on the front line east of Polygon Wood. According to the ‘Official History of the Otago Regiment’, heavy shelling of the 3rd Otago Battalion occurred during 24th November 1917 and “casualties were much above the normal”. The following day was quieter, although the NZ artillery subjected the enemy to brief concentrated ‘shoots’. This was repeated on the 26th November, and on this occasion the “response was heavy with the front line, the Menin Road, and Hooge Crater receiving considerable attention”. It is likely that Tony was mortally wounded through shell fire in one of these actions and was transferred to a dressing station or field hospital back from the lines. Tony’s death is recorded in both the ‘Oamaru Mail’ and ‘North Otago Times’. In the ‘North Otago Times’, it was reported that his relatives received no word stating that he was wounded, the first intimation being a telegram (dated 6 December 1917 in Oamaru) from Base Records of the NZ Military Forces, Wellington, stating that on 26 November 1917 Tony had died of wounds. This would all indicate that Tony probably died the same day he was wounded. His aunt (and next-of-kin in NZ), Bridget Reilly, (of Trent Street, Oamaru), wrote a letter to Base Records on 7 December 1917 asking for more information about Tony. A letter dated 11 December 1917 from Base Records states that “the only information so far to hand concerning the death of the above-named soldier is that he died of wounds on the 26th November 1917”. A standard letter from Base Records, dated 1 September 1919, was received by Bridget Reilly, stating that Tony was buried at Menin Road South Military Cemetery, 2km east of Ypres town centre. This is where he rests today in Grave III. I. 10. 52 New Zealanders are among the 1538 soldiers buried there. The distance between the front line in late November 1917 and the Menin Road South Military Cemetery was approximately 6km. This cemetery continued to be used by units and field ambulances until the summer of 1918 and could have been the closest one, back from the front line, along the Menin Road, at the time Tony died of wounds. After the Armistice some graves were brought in from isolated positions on the battlefields to the east, but this probably wasn’t the case with Tony’s grave, due to the dates of death of surrounding graves. Information about Tony’s grave is found on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website: https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/96864/riley,-anthony-joseph/ Tony died exactly one year after his cousin Dave Keane was killed in action. (Dave is buried about 20km away in Armentieres, France). Following these two deaths, their 95-year-old grandmother (also named Bridget Reilly) was heart broken and became bedridden for her remaining two years. A total of 28 letters written by Tony to relatives in Oamaru have survived. These are in the possession of daughters of Tony’s cousin Mary, as are paintings of the Menin Road South Military Cemetery. This indicates that Tony continued to be remembered well after his death. Maybe because of Tony’s brief period living in NZ prior to enlisting, and not having any immediate family in Oamaru, his name was not included on the Enfield War Memorial. JT Mahoney, Tony’s employer, died in 1918, and if he had been alive in the early 1920s when the Enfield Roll of Honour was being compiled, it is almost certain that Tony’s name would have been included. Tony also didn’t have a memorial oak tree planted in his name when that memorial scheme occurred throughout North Otago in 1919. However, this was rectified on 18 August 2002 when an oak tree and a new memorial cross for Tony were planted by relatives on the west end of the row of established memorial oaks at Enfield. This occurred about the time that new crosses were being erected adjacent to the existing oak trees commemorating North Otago’s fallen soldiers of World War One. The location of Anthony Joseph Riley’s memorial oak tree is very appropriate as it is over the road from the farm where he lived and worked at the time of enlisting. For the centenary of the Armistice, a wooden cross with the name of each soldier who died in the First World War was installed for about a month in one of the four main cities of New Zealand. A cross for Tony was one of those erected in Dunedin in November 2018. A visit was made to Menin Road South Military Cemetery on Anzac Day 2019 and it was noticed that a new headstone had been placed on Tony’s grave. Compiled by Edmund le Grelle, (great grandson of Tony’s cousin, Mary Keane). February 2020. [email protected] [Record since amended - NZWGT] Read More

Files:

Biography of Tony Riley.doc

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Casualty

Service Number:

15240

Name:

Anthony Joseph Riley

Rank:

Private

Date of Birth:

21 March 1896

Place of Birth:

Homebush, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Next of Kin:

Mrs Maggie Carroll (sister), Neruda, Stanley Street, Burwood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Religion:

Roman Catholic

Date of Enlistment:

06 April 1916

Locality on Enlistment:

C/o J Mahoney, Whitston[e]

Place of Enlistment:

Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand

Marital Status:

Single

Occupation on Enlistment:

Farmer

Employer:

J Mahoney, Whitston[e]

Unit:

NZEF, Otago Regiment, 3 Battalion

Casualty Details

Cause of Death:

Died of wounds

Date of Death:

26 November 1917

Day of Death:

Monday

Conflict:

WW1

Embarkation Details

Embarkation Body:

New Zealand Expeditionary Force

Embarkation Place:

Wellington, New Zealand

Embarkment Date:

26 July 1916

Transport:

HMNZT 59
HMNZT 60

Vessel:

Waitemata or Ulimaroa

Destination:

Devonport, England

Text in italics supplied by Cenotaph Online, Auckland War Memorial Museum

Cemetery

Cemetery:

Menin Road South Military Cemetery

Cemetery Reference:

III. I. 10.

Cemetery Location:

Belgium