William James TIGHE #57648

Indigenous Australian, William Tighe, 4th Reinforcements Queensland, 1918

William Tighe was born to William Tighe and Louisa Blackman, at Teridgerie, near Narrabri, NSW in 1882. When William volunteered to serve with the first AIF at Toowoomba in January 1918 he was already married with five children, his wife Ida Beatrice Conroy, resided in Goondiwindi.

Passed medically fit, he trained at Rifle Range Camp, Enoggera Barracks, just outside Brisbane and departed from Sydney with the 4th Reinforcements Queensland, bound for England aboard HMAT Orontes in June 1918.

Not long after arriving in Liverpool, William was taken ill with influenza and admitted to hospital at Hurdcott, where he remained for several weeks before being discharged to the Convalescent Depot at Weymouth Camp.

William Tighe had great difficulties adjusting to life in the military, being so far away from home and country. He also suffered from chronic rheumatism and 'neurosis'. When the medical authorities reviewed his case it was decided that William should return home to Australia.

William embarked from England in December 1918 and on arrival was discharged medically unfit.

Read more ...

• Service Record: TIGHE, William James
• Embarkation Roll:  4th Queensland Reinforcements
• One of the soldiers featured in SLQ’s HistoryPin Collection

Watch ...

• Queensland’s Indigenous Servicemen [mp4, 12 mins]

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.