According to his military record, Joseph Valentine was born in Dublin, Ireland, in about 1894. However, two decades later the Geraldton Express newspaper reported his birth place as “Los Angeles, California, but (he) was educated at Blackrock College, Dublin. His father is dead, but his mother is still alive in America, and married to a wealthy gentleman named Murphy.”
Regardless of his origins, by the time Joseph turned 20 he was living at the Masonic Bedrooms in Geraldton and working as a labourer. When the weekend came around ‘Yankey Murphy’ – as he was known around town – marshalled the defence of the Queens Park Rangers club during the 1914 Geraldton British Football Association season.
When a call went out for Geraldton to provide more men for the war effort, Joseph immediately answered, enlisting as a Private with the 11th Battalion. Twenty-four hours later he was joined by fellow footballers Fred Ashton (Geraldton Town) and William Groessler (Thistle) in a group of 23 men who caught the train to Perth. In perhaps a sign of things to come, Joseph was twice disciplined for being absent without leave while undertaking training at Blackboy Hill camp in the latter part of 1914.
His unit departed from Fremantle in early November and, after time in Egypt, he was amongst those who landed at ANZAC Cove on 25 April, 1915. The 11th Battalion suffered heavy casualties that day with 59 men killed. In June, Joseph was “wounded accidentally” when shot in the foot and was evacuated to hospital in Malta. Moved to England, three months later he was unable to walk without pain and “complains of suffering from shock”. Although declared fit for light duties, he was invalided home in January 1916 and by mid-year had been discharged “on becoming unfit on account of Shrapnel Bullet wound in the left foot”.
Back in Perth, Joseph worked as a mechanic and was living in Maylands. But he found the desire to serve his country too great and in October 1916, only 141 days after being discharged, he re-enlisted with the 46th Battalion, serving as a Private at the Australian Imperial Force’s training depot in Codford, England.
In March, Joseph was court martialled for “conduct to the prejudice of good order” and “wearing the uniform and rank badge of a Lieut in the AIF which he was not entitled”. On pleading guilty, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour – which was reduced to 6 months detention – and forfeited 211 days pay. Joseph forfeited a further 29 days pay in November when a court of enquiry found him guilty of being absent without leave. By January he’d been declared “illegally absent” and discharged on account of desertion, a punishment which included forfeiture of all rights of repatriation to Australia and any leaving that was owing.
It is not known when Joseph Rathbourne passed away.