John Conway

Rank:	Company Sergeant Major
Street:	17 Mackay Street
Townland:
Town/Village:	Pharan, Victoria, Australia
Civil Parish:
Catholic Parish:
Country:
Alternative Address:	8 St. Michael's Road, Longford.
Census 1901:	Living with his family on St. Michael's Road www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Longford/Longford_No__1_Urban/St__Michael_s_Road/1556146/
Census 1911:
Regiment/Unit:	Australian Imperial Force, Infantry, 60th Battalion, "D" Company/ [15th Infantry Brigade, 8th Battalion]/ {8th Battalion}
Regiment Number:	988A
Date of Death:	19-07-1916
Cause:	Killed in Action, Battle of Fromelles (Somme)
Memorial:	V. C. Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial, Fromelles, France.
Information:	John was born 6 April 1885 in Longford Wokhouse, and later lived on St. Michael's Road. Prior to emigrating to Australia he served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers for 12 years. Conway enlisted with the Australian Imperial Forces in September 1914, soon after the outbreak of the War. He soon rose through the ranks, and was promoted to of Sergeant in April 2915, and had attained the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major in April 1916 and Company Sergeant Major in May 1916 (Warrant Officer Class II). During the War, Conway served both at Gallipoli and in the Somme. On 30 April 1915 Conway suffered a gun shot wound to the scalp** when he served at Gallipoli, and was initially treated in Graylingwell War Hospital in Chichester and later at Harefield Hospital, after which he was invalided to Australia where he made a full recovery. He returned to the Front in February 1916, but was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of Fromelles, (a subsidiary of the Somme Offensive), one of 757 Australian casualties in that battle. At some point after enlistment he married Lillian Maude Conway, of Prahran, Victoria. John was the brother of Sjt Michael Conway M.M. who was killed in action during the Battle of Cambrai.
Parents Names:	Son of the late James Conway and Mary (née Farrell), St. Michael's Road, Longford
Notes:	CSM Conway is buried beside Kerry soldier, Peter Jeremiah Rosney who died on the same day. After his injury in 1915, Conway reattested as a Private, but appears to have been reinstated as an officer in the rank of Company Sergeant Major by the time of his death. **It appears that he was admitted to hospital twice for treatment for the same injury. Mrs. Conway also held addresses at: 158 Powlett Street, East Melbourne (her family home); Commercial Hotel, Warrnambool, Victoria; The Perseverance Hotel, Fitzroy, Victoria.
Links:	Link to CWGC entry; Australian Imperial Force Records - J Conway; link to Civil Record of Birth (if the link fails, please type .pdf at the end of the web address)