Joseph Andrew McMULLAN

Regimental number5639
Place of birthCairncastle, Co Antrim, Ireland
SchoolBallygilbert National School, Ireland
Age on arrival in Australia18
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationLabourer
AddressWagga PO, Wagga, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation23
Height6' 1.5"
Weight168 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Ellen McMullan, The Garden, Carin Castle, Lisnahay, CoAntrim, Ireland
Enlistment date6 April 1916
Place of enlistmentCootamundra, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name18th Battalion, 15th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/35/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on 9 September 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll18th Battalion
FateDied whilst a Prisoner of War 9 June 1917
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
86
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Died of wounds whilst a Prisoner of War
Family/military connectionsBrother: 5638 Pte William James McMULLAN, 18th Bn, returned to Australia, 30 June 1918.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney on 'Euripides', 9 September 1916; disembarked Plymouth, England, 26 October 1916; marched into 5th Training Bn, Rollestone, 21 November 1916.

Proceeded to France through Folkestone on 'Princess Clementine', 24 January 1917; marched into 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 25 January 1917; joined unit in the field, 5 February 1917.

Reported missing, 3 May 1917. Reported dead whilst held as a prisoner of war, 9 June 1917.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, McMULLAN Joseph Andrew