Simone Hickey, MA Historical & Heritage Studies writes:

By the end of the war in November 1918, it is believed that approximately 5,000 Sligo men in over fifty regiments fought in all theaters of the Great War.

 Many men from Sligo enlisted abroad, from across the water – Scotland, England and Wales, to further afield - Canada, America and Australia. Very little is known about these men and their association with Sligo.

 Patrick Commons was the son of a farmer from Gortnagrelly, Co. Sligo. Being the second son, Patrick was not in line to inherit the family farm. The 1911 Census records Patrick as a single farmer living in Ballure, Calry, possibly farming family land as another Commons family lived in the area. At some stage during the next two years Patrick emigrated to Australia. There he was employed as a Hospital Attendant in Marrickville, New South Wales.  

On 15 January 1916, aged 29, Patrick enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. After five months training, he sailed from Sydney to Europe. As a Gunner with 22nd Howitzer Brigade, Patrick was heavily involved in some of the worst fighting of the Great War, including the Battle of Passchendaele.

On 2 October 1917, Patrick received a gunshot wound to the thigh and was transferred to hospital in England. The following March he returned to duty in France as a Driver. In April, at his own request, he was re-posted as a Gunner with the Field Artillery, and went to the front fighting in the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux. From there he took part in the Battle of Amiens, or the 100 Days Offensive, which ultimately led to the end of the war.

 Unfortunately, Patrick was not to enjoy the Allied victory celebrations.

 During the final push in Autumn 1918, the Allied armies launched their largest ever combined offensive on the Western Front. The Battle of St Quentin Canal involved British, Australian and American Forces. It was a decisive Allied victory and drove the German Army from its last fully prepared position west of the German border.

 On 8 October 1918 fourteen men from the Australian Field Artillery were killed during an artillery exchange.

One of the fourteen was a farmer from Ballure, Calry, Co. Sligo - Patrick Commons