SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH
SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s Name
John Matthew Hanly (misspelt on some sources as Hanley)
Rank
Lieutenant
Service Number
An official letter dated 11 August 1915 found in Hanly’s record from the National
Archives of Australia states – “As he is an officer he is not allocated a number.”
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron
Boer War: 3rd Queensland Mounted Infantry (Q.M.I)
First World War: 5th Light Horse (5LHR) Regiment
Date of Birth
18 May 1875
Place of Birth
Dalby, Queensland
Family Details
Wife: Bridget Isabel Hanly (nee Kelly)
Brothers:
Thomas Martin (Lance Corporal in the 9th Australian Infantry Battalion (KIA, Killed
In Action)), Thomas’ name can be found on the Menin Gate, Panel 17.
Paul Hanly (Private - 5th Light Horse Regiment. Paul survived the First World War)
Age at Enlistment
Children:
Peter James, Margret Maud, Claire Mar
23 years old (Q.M.I – Boer War)
39 years and 4 months (L.H.R – First World War)
Place of Enlistment
Roscommon Station, Kaimkillenbun, Dalby, Queensland
Date of Death
6 June 1915 (40 years old)
Place of Death
Twin Trenches, Gallipoli, Turkey
Cemetery or
Memorial Name
Grave or Memorial
Number
Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey
Reference Number: Panel 3, Lone Pine Memorial
PHOTO:
Lieutenant John Matthew Hanly of Unit 3, Queensland Mounted Infantry
contingent, 1900
Source:
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland 1900, Lieutenant John
Matthew Hanly, Boer War soldier, 1900
http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/47949905 (accessed 02/02/2015)
Group photo of the officers of the 5th Light Hose Regiment (Lieutenant J. M. Hanly 14th from the back row)
AT SEA. 1914-12-10. GROUP PORTRAIT OF OFFICERS OF THE 5TH AUSTRALIAN LIGHT HORSE REGIMENT (5ALH) ABOARD SS PERSIC EN
ROUTE TO EGYPT. LEFT TO RIGHT: BACK ROWS: CAPTAIN (CAPT) EDWARD STEWART JAMES, CAPT HENRY KING IRVING, CHAPLAIN
FRANCIS DE MOAG TUBMANN, CAPT RICHARD STEWART BILLINGTON, CAPT JOSEPH ESPIE DODS, MAJOR (MAJ) WILLIAM CHATHAM,
CAPT THOMAS JOSEPH BRUNDRIT (KIA ANZAC 1915-10), LIEUTENANT COLONEL (LT COL) DONALD CHARLES CAMERON, MAJ WILLIAM
LECKEY FERGUSON WRIGHT, CAPT GEORGE PETER DONOVAN, LIEUTENANT (LT) THOMAS BESWICK FARGHER, CAPT HERBERT FRANCIS
MCLAUGHLIN, CAPT AUGUSTUS MAXWELL RYAN, LT JOHN MATTHEW HANLY (KIA ANZAC 1915-06), CAPT MALCOLM STUART
KENNEDY; SECOND ROW: CAPT PAUL DEGGE ROBINSON, LT COL LACHLAN CHISHOLM WILSON, LT COL HUBERT JENNINGS IMRIE
HARRIS, MAJ EDMUND EDWARD RIGHETTI, CAPT EUSTACE ROYSTON BAUM PIKE; FRONT ROW: CAPT JOHN GEORGE DONALD
MCNEILL, MAJ ROBERT HAROLD NIMMO. (ORIGINAL PRINT IN AWM ARCHIVE STORE) (DONOR JOHN OXLEY LIBRARY)
Source from AWM: http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P01541.001/ (accessed 4/01/2015)
SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY:
Prepared by Bayley Williams
Lieutenant John Matthew Hanly (aka Hanley) was born at Hollywell, off Growie Road near Toowoomba,
Queensland on 18 May 1875. Hanly lived a normal child’s life on the family farm, and was one of 7 children,
5 boys and 2 girls. John was educated at the Clifton State School Homestead Area first and afterwards by
private tuition.
Hanly is quoted in 1900 in the “Brisbane Courier”, the paper of the time, as saying that he was ‘cut out of a
gum tree’, indicating his true link with ‘the bush’.
John Matthew Hanly joined I Company, the Queensland Mounted Infantry (Q.M.I) at Clifton in 1898, as a
Private. He passed all exams, for non-commissioned officers and was gazetted acting C.S.M (Company
Sergeant Major) before the Lytton encampment of 1899. Immediately after that encampment he was given
a provisional commission as Lieutenant, a position he held when, in January 1900, he was attached to B
Company in the 3rd Q.M.I. for service in South Africa during the Boer War. Australia was not yet a nation,
yet this ‘bush boy’ went to serve his state of Queensland. The “Brisbane Courier” described John Hanly in
1900 at the time of his enlistment in the QMI:
“He is one of the best shots in the Clifton Company, is a footballer and a good rough-rider. In appearance,
Lieutenant Hanly is one of the best types of the athletic Queensland bushman”.
During the Boer War, Hanly fought in two major battles: The Koster River Battle (22 July 1900) and the
Rhenoster Kop Battle (30 November 1900). During the Rhenoster Kop Battle campaign, John Matthew
Hanly was injured through the foot from enemy fire and spent time away from his company recovering
from his injury.
Throughout the campaign, John Matthew Hanly showed leadership, courage and strength, which is noted
by his peers, who respected him, evidenced in a letter written and recorded in the book “Letters from the
Veldt: An account of the involvement of volunteers from Queensland at the war in South Africa (Boer War)
1899-1902”, by Len Harvey:
“Yesterday Lieutenant Hanly came aboard from the Maplemore, and received a great reception from the
boys, he being one of the most popular and certainly one of the most competent officers we have.”
After Lieutenant Hanly spent five weeks in hospital due to his foot injury, he re-joined the forces and took
over from Captain Echlin in command; Hanly keeps this position until Captain Echlin returns in April 1901.
Hanly returns with the 3rd Contingent on the completion of his service and was discharged from the QMI on
about 23 June 1901. Australia is now a federated nation.
He returned to his family farm and worked the land and life seemed to go well. At the age of 33 John
Matthew Hanly married Bridget Isabel Cassidy on 29 September 1908 at Saint Joseph’s Church in Dalby.
John and Bridget had three children, Peter James, Margret Maud and Claire Mary.
When the First World War broke out, John Matthew Hanly once again heard the call to arms and enlisted
on 22 September 1914 as a Lieutenant and was assigned to the 5th Light Horse Regiment, with his two
brothers beside him, Thomas Martin (9th Australian Infantry Battalion) and Paul (5th Light Horse Regiment).
He travelled to the Gallipoli Peninsula on the HMAS Persic from Sydney on 21 December 1914. There is no
doubt that John Hanly’s country upbringing combined with his experiences in the Boer war made him a
valuable recruit in the newly formed Australian Imperial Forces.
On 6 June 1915, a patrol from the 5th Light Horse Regiment, which Lieutenant John Matthew Hanly was
leading, were cut off by a Turkish patrol and were forced to retreat. Devastatingly for Hanly, his comrades
and their families, they did not make the return to the safety of their trench.
Such was the spirit of the men at Gallipoli and the respect Hanly’s men had for him, the following night, the
Australian Forces, sent out a search party to retrieve Lieutenant Hanly and the other men’s bodies,
however, they were unable to find the missing soldiers and it was concluded that the Turkish forces killed
them and took away the bodies.
Hanly’s memorial can be found at the Lone Pine Memorial. He is remembered both at Gallipoli as well as
on the cenotaph in Clifton in South-East Queensland and in the hearts of his family.
Sadly, for the Hanly family, as the war raged on, John Matthew Hanly’s brother, Thomas Martin was killed
in action in Belgium, on the Western Front, on 20 September 1917. His name is now engraved on the
Menin Gate at Ypres in Belgium. Their brother, Paul Hanly was the only member of the family to survive the
hardships of the First World War and return to Australia.
John Matthew Hanly was a bushman with all the skills country men possessed at that time. Hanly was a
professional and experienced soldier who was greatly loved and respected by his fellow Australians. Just as
importantly, John Matthew Hanly was also a son, a brother and a father who paid the ultimate price at
Gallipoli for our country.
His name will liveth for evermore.
Lest we forget.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Australian War Memorial 2013, The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Lieutenant John
Matthew Hanly, 5th Light Horse Regiment, First World War,
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/PAFU2013/159.01/ , (accessed 12 February 2015)
The Australian War Memorial 2015, First World War Embarkation Rolls: John Matthew Hanly, The
Australian War Memorial, http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R2031789/ (accessed 17 February 2015)
Australian War Memorial 2015, Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing – John Hanly
http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1486978/, (accessed 12 February 2015)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Find War Dead, http://www.cwgc.org/find-wardead.aspx?cpage=1 (accessed 12 February 2015)
Harvey, Len 1994, Letters from the Veldt: an account of the involvement of volunteers from Queensland at
the war in South Africa (Boer War), 1899-1902, L. Harvey, Coombabah, Queensland
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland 1900, Lieutenant John Matthew Hanly, Boer War soldier,
1900 http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/47949905 (accessed 2 February 2015)
MEYERS, John, Maryborough Military & Colonial Museum, 106 Wharf Street, Maryborough, Queensland,
4650
National Archives of Australia 2015, HANLY John Matthew: Service Number – Lieutenant,
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/NameSearch/Interface/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=4255379 ,
(accessed 12 February 2015)
Queensland War Memorials, Clifton War Memorial,
http://www.qldwarmemorials.com.au/memorial/?id=430 (accessed 23 February 2015)
The Brisbane Courier 1900, OFFICERS OF THE CONTINGENT.’, The Brisbane Courier (QLD.: 1864 – 1933), 9
February, p.5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19083644 (accessed 2 February 2015)
WILLIAMS, Les, Military History Enthusiast, Coolibah Motel, Blackall, Queensland, 4472