Patrick Degidan
Name: Patrick Degidan
Rank: Driver
Service Number: 31524
Units Served: 3rd Division Ammunition Column 7th Reinforcement
Personal Details:
Patrick Degidan was born in April of 1889 in Yorktown South Australia. His parent’s names were Michael and Katherine Degidan. He had a sister named Mary Agnes Degidan and an eighteen year old brother Michael who enlisted on the same day and was also accepted into the 3rd division ammunition column before being transferred to the 13th Field Artillery Brigade. Patrick was a porter (SA Railway) and was also a printers apprentice for nine years.
Patrick, who was aged 27 years and one month old when he enlisted, was 5’8’ tall weighing 140lbs with Blue eyes, dark hair and dark complexion.
Enlistment Details:
Patrick Degidan enlisted in the town of Burra in South Australia on the 30th May 1916 and was 27 years and one month.
Details about his role in War:
Patrick left from Melbourne on the R.M.S “ORONTES” on the 23rd December 1916. He then marched into details no3 camp, park house, from Australia on the 18th February 1917. He was then admitted into the Fargo military hospital with an NYD (Not Yet Determined) illness on the 30th July 1917. He was discharged from the Fargo military hospital on 19th October 1917. On the 2nd November 1917 Patrick was sent to Sutton Veny military hospital because of serious illness Patrick died two months later on the 13th January 1918. Patrick never set foot on the Western Front before he died of tuberculoses in the Sutton Veny military Hospital.
Age at Death: 28 years and 9 months
Date of Embarkation: From Melbourne on the 23rd December 1916 on the ship RMS Orontes.
Date of Death: 13th January 1918
Cemetery or Memorial Details: WILTSHIRE 167 Sutton Veny (St John) Churchyard
Interesting Material: Patrick Degidan’s Brother Michael John Jerome Degidan was eighteen when he enlisted on the same day as his brother. He was also a driver and was in the 13th Field Artillery Brigade, the same brigade that my great, great, great uncle Thomas Anthony Spurr fought and died for on the Western Front. However, Michael Degidan was lucky to survive the war and return to his home town in South Australia in March 1919.
