John QUINN

Regimental number1372
Place of birthSydenham, Christchurch, New Zealand
SchoolMarist Brothers School, Christchurch, New Zealand
Age on arrival in Australia22
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationMeat packer
Addressc/o Miss A.H. Cole, c/o Miss E. Vincent, Darling Street, Balmain, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation27
Height5' 5"
Weight134 lbs
Next of kinBrother, Francis Michael Quinn, 63 Park Street, Wolston, Christchurch, New Zealand
Previous military serviceServed for 3 years in the Infantry, New Zealand; 5 years in the Royal Navy ('effluxion of time')
Enlistment date18 August 1914
Place of enlistmentKensington, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name3rd Battalion, G Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/20/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on 20 October 1914
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll3rd Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour Circular'Boxing, running (allround athlete). Before going to Australia, was in the Imperial rifles, Christchurch, New Zealand. Also had a course of training on Naval boats in New Zealand waters.' (details from brother)
FateKilled in Action 14 April 1918
Age at death from cemetery records30
Place of burialNo known grave
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
38
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Michael and Mary QUINN
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 5 April 1915.

Wounded in action, and admitted to HS 'Gloucester Castle', 30 April 1915 (shrapnel wound, head); transferred to Egypt (date not recorded).

Admitted to Kasr-el-Aini Hospital, Abbassia, Cairo, 29 December 1915; discharged, 15 January 1916; total period of treatment for venereal disease: 25 days.

admitted to No 1 Auxiliary Hospital, Heliopolis, 22 January 1916 (abscess, groin).

Joined 1st Training Bn, Tel el Kebir, from No 1 Auxiliary Hospital, 18 May 1916.

Gap in record

Admitted to Perham Downs Hospital, 15 June 1916; discharged from hospital, 20 June 1916.

Found guilty, 30 July 1916, of being absent without leave from 2400, 13 July, until 2130, 25 July 1916: awarded 14 days' confined to barracks, and forfeited 12 days' pay under Royal Warrant.

Found guilty, Perham Downs, 30 September 1916, of being absent without leave from 0600, 18 September, till reporting at Horseferry Road, London, 29 September 1916: awarded forfeiture of 6 days' pay; total forfeiture: 18 days' pay.

Proceeded overseas to France, 30 September 1916.

Admitted to 18th General Hospital, Camiers, 4 October 1916 (venereal disease: not yet diagnosed); transferred to 51st General Hospital, Etaples, 15 October 1916 (venereal disease: syphilis); discharged to duty, 13 December 1916; total period of treatment for venereal disease: 71 days; rejoined unit, in the field, 7 January 1917.

Admitted to 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, 21 January 1917 (stomatitis); transferred to 38th Casualty Clearing Station, 23 January 1917; to Ambulance Train No 22, 25 January 1917 (dental), and admitted to 12th General Hospital, Rouen, 26 January 917; to No 2 Convalescent Depot, 5 February 1917; rejoined 3rd Bn, in the field, 20 March 1917.

Admitted to 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, 18 April 1917 (diarrhoea), and transferred to Divisional Rest Station; to South Midlands Casualty Clearing Station, 21 April 1917; to No 4 Ambulance Train, 23 April 1917, and admitted to 12th General Hospital, Rouen; to 25th Stationary Hospital, 17 May 1917 (dysentery); to No 2 Convalescent Depot, 14 June 1917; to Base Depot, Havre, 15 June 1917.

Found guilty, 6 July 1917, of (1) while on Active Service being absent from 9.30 pm, 4 July, until apprehended by Military Police at about 10.15 pm, 4 July 1917; (2) being in improper possession of another man's pass: awarded 14 days' Field Punishment No 2.

Rejoined Bn, in the field, 14 July 1917.

Admitted to 1st Australian Field Ambulance, 25 August 1917 (trench fever), and transferred to 53rd Casualty Clearing Station; to 32nd Stationary Hospital, Wimereux, 26 August 1917; to 3rd Canadian General Hospital, Wimereux, 28 August 1917; to England, 16 September 1917, and admitted to Edmonton General Military Hospital (trench fever: slight); transferred to 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, 25 September 1917; discharged on furlough, 28 September 1917, to report to No 3 Command Depot, Hurdcott, 12 October 1917.

Found guilty, 19 November 1917, of being absent without leave from 12 noon, 13 November, till 4 pm, 16 November 1917: awarded 5 days' Field Punishment No 2; forfeited a total of 11 days' pay.

Absent without leave from 14 December 1917; declared an illegal absentee by Court of Enquiry, Hurdcott, 7 January 1918.

Tried by District Court Martial, Hurdcott, 24 January 1918; pleaded guilty to being absent without leave, 14 December 1917-7 January 1918: awarded 56 days' detention, and forfeited 97 days' pay.

Admitted to Lewes Detention Barracks, 7 February 1918.

Discharged from Lewes Detention Barracks, 1 March 1918; 13 days of sentence remitted as from 7 March 1918.

Poceeded overseas to France, 7 March 1918; rejoined Bn, in the field, 12 March 1918.

Killed in action, 14 April 1918.

Handwritten notation on Form B103: 'Buried in vicity of Strazeele (27SE)'. Grave subsequently lost.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, QUINN John