Person in this family
John Thomas McGreevy
Born 4 October 1886; death not recorded
Queensland-born son of Peter McGreevy and an Australian Imperial Force private associated with Ipswich. His service entry names “Father, Peter McGreevy.” John left farm work at Amberley for the Western Front aboard the Demosthenes. He died of wounds in France in August 1918 and lies in Daours Communal Cemetery Extension; his father Peter was his recorded next of kin.
Proved by a record
John Thomas McGreevy (about 1886–22 August 1918) was an Ipswich-born farm hand and Australian soldier who died of wounds in France.
Birth: From our family tree - no record found yet
How is this person related?
Andrew John Leahey’s second cousin twice removed
Gina D. Cacace’s spouse's second cousin twice removed (by marriage)
Abigail Ann Leahey’s second cousin three times removed
Marie C. Fitzgerald’s second cousin once removed
Kevin Leahey’s spouse's second cousin once removed (by marriage)
Worked out from the recorded parents and marriages. No sex is recorded for anyone in this archive, so the wording stays neutral.
How this person is related to Andrew:
John Thomas McGreevy is your second cousin, 2 times removed.
Life
John Thomas McGreevy was born at Ipswich, Queensland, about 1886 and died of wounds in France on 22 August 1918. Our family tree records the more precise birth date 4 October 1886 and names Mary Ann Hickey as his mother, but this archive contains no birth registration confirming either detail. His military record identifies his father as Peter McGreevy.
Before enlisting, John was a single Roman Catholic farm hand living at Amberley via Ipswich. The AIF Project entry records "Regimental number 2849," "Occupation Farm hand," and "Age at embarkation 30." It also names "Father, Peter McGreevy" as his next of kin at the same Amberley address.
John enlisted on 2 October 1916. He served as a private with the 42nd Battalion and embarked with its 6th Reinforcement aboard HMAT Demosthenes on 23 December 1916. His recorded war service was on the Western Front, and his service was recognized with the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
The Australian War Memorial entry reads:
Service number 2849, | Unit 42nd Australian Infantry Battalion, | Date of Death 22 August 1918, | Cause of Death Died of wounds, | Place of Association Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.
Three weeks after his death, his family placed a thanks notice in the Queensland Times: "Mr. and Mrs. P. McGREEVY and FAMILY sincerely THANK all kind relatives and friends who sent messages, cards, letters of sympathy, also those who otherwise sympathised with them in the loss of their son and brother, Pte. John Thomas McGreevy." Its wording preserves both the family’s grief and the support they received.
John was buried in Daours Communal Cemetery Extension, France, in Plot VI, Row A, Grave 8. This archive does not include his full service dossier, so the wound, hospital course, will, and any correspondence with his family remain unknown.
How we know this: Military records and the family’s contemporary thanks notice document his service, father, address, death, burial, and remembrance; his exact birth date and mother are not proved. [1][2][3]
Photographs
A Commonwealth War Graves Commission stone under pollarded trees, with identical stones in rows either side. At the top the Rising Sun badge of the Australian Imperial Force; below it four lines — 2849 PRIVATE / J. T. McGREEVY / 42ND BN. AUSTRALIAN INF. / 22ND AUGUST 1918 — and a plain Latin cross. He died of wounds, aged thirty-one, in the Australian advance on the Somme after Amiens. He was born at Ipswich in Queensland and his grandfather was born at Limerick Junction in Tipperary.
Photograph via Find a Grave memorial 56387418
Family
Parents
Siblings · birth order
See this family in the family treeWhere they lived
Use the place list first. The map below is optional.
Places listed on this page
- Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
- France
- Amberley, Queensland, Australia
- Daours, Somme, France
- Queens, New York City, New York
- Daours Communal Cemetery Extension, Daours, Somme, France Cemetery or burial place
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The pins show approximate places. The line only joins them in time order; it does not prove the route travelled. Cemetery and burial places have red pins.
Timeline
Born
4 Oct 1886
From our family tree - no record found yet
Died
The Australian War Memorial independently gives “Service number 2849,” “Unit 42nd Australian Infantry Battalion,” “Date of Death 22 August 1918,” “Cause of Death Died of wounds,” and “Place of Association Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.” Born at Ipswich, Queensland, about 1886 (age 30 at embarkation); enlisted 2 October 1916; died of wounds 22 August 1918 in France; buried at Daours, plot VI.A.8. The precise tree date 4 October 1886 was not independently verified. Roman Catholic, single farm hand of Amberley; private 2849, 42nd Battalion; Western Front service; British War Medal and Victory Medal. John left farm work at Amberley for the Western Front aboard the Demosthenes. He died of wounds in France in August 1918 and lies in Daours Communal Cemetery Extension; his father Peter was his recorded next of kin. [2]
Proved by a record
Military service
“Enlistment date 2 October 1916”; “42nd Battalion, 6th Reinforcement”; embarked “on board HMAT A64 Demosthenes on 23 December 1916.” [1]
Proved by a record
Military service
“Enlistment date 2 October 1916”; “42nd Battalion, 6th Reinforcement”; embarked “on board HMAT A64 Demosthenes on 23 December 1916.” [1]
Proved by a record
Died
The Australian War Memorial independently gives “Service number 2849,” “Unit 42nd Australian Infantry Battalion,” “Date of Death 22 August 1918,” “Cause of Death Died of wounds,” and “Place of Association Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.” Born at Ipswich, Queensland, about 1886 (age 30 at embarkation); enlisted 2 October 1916; died of wounds 22 August 1918 in France; buried at Daours, plot VI.A.8. The precise tree date 4 October 1886 was not independently verified. Roman Catholic, single farm hand of Amberley; private 2849, 42nd Battalion; Western Front service; British War Medal and Victory Medal. John left farm work at Amberley for the Western Front aboard the Demosthenes. He died of wounds in France in August 1918 and lies in Daours Communal Cemetery Extension; his father Peter was his recorded next of kin. [2]
Proved by a record
Buried
“Fate Died of wounds 22 August 1918”; burial “Daours Communal Cemetery Extension (Plot VI, Row A, Grave No. 8), France”; “War service: Western Front”; medals “British War Medal, Victory Medal.” [1]
Proved by a record
Family thanks notice
Three weeks after John’s death, his family publicly thanked relatives and friends for messages, cards, letters and other sympathy “in the loss of their son and brother, Pte. John Thomas McGreevy.” [3]
The record itself
Tap to open a larger copyQueensland Times roll-of-honour page, 14 September 1918
Proved by a record
Original records
1 further record is shown in the timeline, beside the event each one documents.
What the records say
3 records transcribed.
Record exhibit
AIF Project
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Next of kin — Father, Peter McGreevy, Amberley via Ipswich, Queensland. | Place of birth — Ipswich Queensland, | Address — Amberley via Ipswich, Queensland, | Father, Peter McGreevy. | Regimental number 2849 | Place of birth Ipswich Queensland | Religion Roman Catholic | Occupation Farm hand | Address Amberley via Ipswich, Queensland | Marital status Single | Age at embarkation 30. | Enlistment date 2 October 1916 | 42nd Battalion, 6th Reinforcement | on board HMAT A64 Demosthenes on 23 December 1916. | Fate Died of wounds 22 August 1918 | Daours Communal Cemetery Extension (Plot VI, Row A, Grave No. 8), France | War service: Western Front | British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Record exhibit
Australian War Memorial
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Service number 2849, | Unit 42nd Australian Infantry Battalion, | Date of Death 22 August 1918, | Cause of Death Died of wounds, | Place of Association Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.
Record exhibit
Queensland Times family thanks notice, 14 September 1918
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Mr. and Mrs. P. McGREEVY and FAMILY sincerely THANK all kind relatives and friends who sent messages, cards, letters of sympathy, also those who otherwise sympathised with them in the loss of their son and brother, Pte. John Thomas McGreevy.
Historical context
These background articles explain the places, work, and events in this entry.
What Sponsors and Witnesses Can Tell Us
Catholic registers often preserve the people standing just outside a family photograph. A baptism normally names the child, parents, date and sponsors or godparents; a marriage normally names the couple and wit…
The Irish Road to Ipswich, Queensland
Most branches on this site point toward New York or New Jersey. The Hickey–McGreevy–McGuire cluster points in the opposite direction, to Ipswich, Queensland. The Australian evidence is uneven: cemetery records …
What we still don't know
- Does a Queensland birth registration confirm 4 October 1886 and identify his mother?
- What do the complete service dossier and hospital papers say about his wounds and final days?
- Did his file preserve a will or family correspondence?
- Download and read the complete NAA B2455 dossier for physical description, wounds, hospital course, will, and family correspondence; obtain the Queensland birth registration to test 4 October 1886 and identify his mother.
- [BLOCKED, 7 August 2026] Three Australian sources that would carry his service dossier and next-of-kin were tried and all three refuse automated access: the Australian War Memorial search renders only in a JavaScript app that returned nothing; the Commonwealth War Graves Commission answers 403 from an Azure firewall, in the browser as well as to a script; and Trove, the National Library's newspaper archive, serves a proof-of-work anti-bot challenge. None of these was worked around, and none should be retried the same way. They are all free to a person at a keyboard — service number 2849 is the key to the AIF dossier at the National Archives of Australia, and Trove would hold the Ipswich death notices for this whole family.