John McKENZIE

Regimental number1974
Place of birthSouth Melbourne, Victoria
SchoolAlbert Park State School, Victoria
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationCandlemaker
Address42 Tanner Street, Richmond, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation24
Height5' 7.75"
Weight132 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs M McKenzie, 42 Tanner Street, Richmond, Victoria
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date18 January 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name8th Battalion, 5th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/25/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A20 Hororata on 17 April 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll60th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 19 July 1916
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsV.C. Corner (Panel No 21), Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles, France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
170
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Reported missing, Lemnos, 11 September 1915; joined 8th Bn, Anzac, Gallipoli, from 'Missing', 11 September 1915.

Admitted to Field Ambulance Camp, Sarpi, Mudros, 16 November 1915 (sprained ankle); transferred same day to No 3 Australian General Hospital, Lemnos; to No 27 General Hospital, Lemnos, 2 December 1915.

Disembarked Alexandria, 7 January 1916 (general Gallipoli evacuation).

Taken on strength of 60th Bn, Tel el Kebir, 26 February 1916.

Found guilty, Field General Court Martial, Tel el Kebir, 20 March 1916, of absenting himself without leave, in that he, at Tel el Kebir on 20th 3/16 did absent himself from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on 24.3.16: awarded 42 days' Field Punishment No 2, and forfeited 5 days' pay under Royal Warrant.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 18 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 29 June 1916.

Reported Missing, 19 July 1916.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 4 August 1917, pronounced fate as 'Killed in Action, 19 July 1916'.

Note, Red Cross File No 1930405: 'No trace Germany[.] Cert. by Capt. Mills 10-10-19.'

Statement, 2845 Pte R. COLLIS, B Company, 60th Bn (patient HM Queen Mary's Hospital, Southend-on-Sea, England), 27 July 1916: 'On July 19th, 1916, at Armentieres, he was killed in the charge whilst we were advancing. I saw him lying dead, he was not buried whilst I was here.'

Second statement, 3382 Pte A.J. LAURIE, 60th Bn (patient, Bolton Hospital, England), 26 October1916: 'Informant states that on July 19th at Vermelles McKenzie was killed in the advance about 7 p.m. Informant was close by him and saw it ... '

Third statement, also by 3382 LAURIE (patient, 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, England), 20 December 1916: 'Saw him knocked down by a shell at Fleurbaix where he lay for two days dead.'

Fourth statement, also by 3383 LAURIE (patient, 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, England), 13 January 1917: 'Fleurbaix he was killed on 19th July, laid out about 100 yards from our trenches he was about 10 yards away from me when he was killed. We were mates always together I was out two nights wounded close to the barbed wire and saw him dead as I came back lying just as I first saw him.'

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, McKENZIE John
Red Cross File No 1930405