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David Augustus O'Keeffe (1885–1964)

by W. M. Chamberlain

This article was published:

David Augustus O'Keeffe (1885-1964), by Bernard Hall, 1924

David Augustus O'Keeffe (1885-1964), by Bernard Hall, 1924

Australian War Memorial, ART07287

David Augustus O'Keeffe (1885-1964), soldier and plumber, was born on 25 May 1885 at St Kilda, Melbourne, son of Michael O'Keefe, groom and later dairy proprietor, and his wife Catherine, née Kelleher, both from Cork, Ireland. After a good education he became a plumber and married Rose Fisher at Holy Rosary Church, Kensington, Melbourne, on 3 June 1916. He had enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 28 August 1915 and after promotion to sergeant embarked in the troopship Wandilla on 6 June 1916, in charge of a draft of men for the 10th Australian Field Ambulance.

On arrival in England he trained at Salisbury Plain and on 11 August was taken on strength of the 10th Field Ambulance. His unit was in the Armentières sector, France, by December and moved to L'Estraade in March 1917. O'Keeffe was in action at Messines, Belgium, from 6-12 June and his work led to award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Under heavy fire he cleared casualties from the regimental aid-post and with skill and coolness continuously organized stretcher-bearers and brought in wounded, moving them to the advanced dressing station on a trolley drawn by a mule.

During the battles near Ypres in October Sergeant O'Keeffe won a Bar to his D.C.M. In charge of stretcher-bearers at a forward post when a number of men were wounded, he went out under heavy shell-fire and helped to carry them in. Largely because of his example the stretcher-bearers kept working for long periods over muddy and shell-torn country without rest or sleep.

In January 1918 O'Keeffe was working at an advanced dressing station near Houplines, France. In March the commanding officer of the 10th Field Ambulance wrote of him: 'This N.C.O. is a very good, reliable and practical man with good education. He possesses a soldierly manner and exerts excellent influence and control over the men of this unit, and with his knowledge of nursing duties should make a first-class Warrant Officer or Wardmaster'. On 8 November, just before the Armistice, O'Keeffe was promoted temporary warrant officer, class 1, and was confirmed in rank in February 1919. Next month he was detached to the 11th Field Ambulance. He embarked for Australia in June and assisted the ship's nursing staff on the voyage home; he was discharged in Melbourne in August and resumed his trade of plumbing.

O'Keeffe's wife died in 1942 and on 11 February 1950, at St Joseph's Catholic Church, Elsternwick, he married a widow, Mary Elizabeth Ryan. Survived by three of four children from his first marriage, he died on 2 September 1964 in the Repatriation General Hospital, Heidelberg, and was buried in Brighton cemetery.

Select Bibliography

  • S. Smith, Australian Campaigns in the Great War (Lond, 1919)
  • London Gazette, 24 Aug 1917, 1 Mar 1918
  • Sun-News Pictorial (Melbourne), 4 Sept 1964
  • War diary, 10th Field Ambulance, AIF and records (Australian War Memorial).

Citation details

W. M. Chamberlain, 'O'Keeffe, David Augustus (1885–1964)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/okeeffe-david-augustus-7897/text13731, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 29 March 2024.

This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, (Melbourne University Press), 1988

View the front pages for Volume 11

© Copyright Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2006-2024

David Augustus O'Keeffe (1885-1964), by Bernard Hall, 1924

David Augustus O'Keeffe (1885-1964), by Bernard Hall, 1924

Australian War Memorial, ART07287

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • O'Keefe, David Augustus
Birth

25 May, 1885
St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Death

2 September, 1964 (aged 79)
Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Occupation