KERRIGAN, John Andrew

John’s birth was registered at Bourke NSW in 1869.  He was the son of John and Rhoda Kerrigan and upon enlistment in 1916 was a Dealer at Kelly’s Gully near Warialda NSW.  He was one of the twelve Warialda district men who came forward to join with the Inverell volunteers known as The Kurrajongs.  They travelled by train to the Narrabri camp and later went on the Armidale camp.

John joined the A Company Depot Battalion at Armidale and was soon posted to the 3rd Reinforcements of the 33rd Battalion which sailed from Australia on HMAT A68 Anchises in August 1916.  They arrived in England in October and six weeks later were sent to France.  When John became ill in France in November 1917 he was invalided back to England and admitted to the Military Hospital at Brighton.  In addition to becoming deaf after a shell exploded near him, his health had also been affected by cold and exposure.  He returned to Australia in April 1918.

Private John Kerrigan has his name recorded on the Honor Roll at the Warialda Town Hall.