Joseph Leary was aged 18 at enlistment, and working as a mechanic. His enlistment form is marked 'not to leave Australia until 19 years of age'. His next of kin and adoptive father was Thomas Henry Haig/Haigh, police constable, of 32 Jolimont Street, Jolimont. His parents were listed as deceased. Joseph Leary was 5ft 7ins and 154 lbs, with dark complexion; black hair; grey eyes. He embarked from Melbourne 21 Nov 1917. He spent much time in hospital with myalgia of the legs. Some time in France. He was discharged from further service on 28 November, 1919. A family history on Ancestry states that after returning from the war Leary was employed as an overseer on a plantation in the New Hebrides. By 1921 he had returned to live with the Haigh family in Jolimont. In 1922 he moved to Proserpine, Queensland to look for work. Feeling unwell he attended the hospital where he was diagnosed with malaria. He was mistakenly given strychnine instead of quinine and died 8 September 1922.
Ruth Watson provided information about the link between Joseph Leary and the Haig family: email 11 Feb 2013