Walter Coochy #2420

Indigenous Australian, Walter Coochy (aka Couchey), 7th, 23rd & 9th Field Artillery Brigades

Walter Coochy was born in Gayndah, Qld. to Emily Couchy in 1893 and was working as a horse breaker when he volunteered to serve in the first AIF, November 1915. Initially allotted to the 16th Reinforcements for the 5th Light Horse Regiment, he trained at Chermside just outside Brisbane, before embarking in May 1916 on board HMAT Corsica. On arrival in Egypt, he was transferred to the Artillery Details.

These units sailed for England in June 1916 from Alexandria and trained at the Australian Army Training Depot, Parkhouse before embarking for France. Walter Couchy was first assigned to the 9th Field Artillery Brigade, then the 23rd and finally in January 1917, the 7th. He was mustered to be a driver and served in France and Belgium.

Walter was admitted to hospital briefly in February 1918 after scalding his foot, but returned to his unit within a few days. He remained on active service until being returned home at the end of the war, on the troopship Runic in May 1919. 

His brother Edmund Coochy was not accepted to serve when he enlisted in July 1917 on the grounds of 'no white parentage'

+ Their surname is variously spelt –  Coochy, Coochey, Couchy

Read more ...

• Service record: COOCHY, Walter
• Embarkation roll: 5th Light Horse Regiment, 16th Reinf.
• AWM collection
• One of the soldiers featured in SLQ’s HistoryPin Collection
• Queensland’s Indigenous Servicemen [digital story & oral history, 12 mins, MP4]

The information in this blog post has been researched by State Library staff and volunteers, it is based on available information at this time. If you have more information that you would like to share or further research uncovers new findings, this post will be updated.