The AIF Project

John Wilfred FENTON

Regimental number6545
Place of birthNorth Hamilton Victoria
SchoolHamilton, Western District College; and Geelong College, Victoria
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationGrazier
AddressHamilton, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation22
Next of kinFather, John Fenton, Hamilton, Victoria
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date21 June 1915
Rank on enlistmentGunner
Unit nameField Artillery Brigade 4, Battery 11
AWM Embarkation Roll number13/32/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A18 Wiltshire on 18 November 1915
Rank from Nominal RollLieutenant
Unit from Nominal Roll2nd Division Artillery
Recommendations (Medals and Awards)

Military Medal


Work on 29 September 1917 in the Bellewarde-Westhoek Valley.
Recommendation date: 12 October 1917

Other details from Roll of Honour CircularWounded and gassed.
FateDied of wounds 19 June 1918
Place of death or woundingRibemont
Age at death25
Place of burialBologne Eastern Cemetery (Plot VII, Row B, Grave No. 50), France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
14
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: John and the late Helen FENTON "Lantarna", Hamilton, Victoria
Medals

Military Medal

'On the 29th September, 1917, in BELLEWARDE-WESTHOEK Valley, the Battery was being shelled heavily by 5.2 and 8" to such an extent that orders were given to temporarily evacuate the position. Immediately after, a 6-mule team of the 2nd Australian D.A.C. was almost directly hit with a shell, severely wounding two of the drivers and killing one. Notwithstanding the heavy shell fire, Gunner FENTON and Gunner CRAWFORD, accompanied by the Battery A.M.C. Orderly, immediately went to the assistance of the wounded, dressed their wounds and carried them to the Dressing Station. The A.M.C. Orderly was killed in doing so. They went back again to see if they could render any assistance to two Pioneers who had also run over with them in the first place, but had been killed by the same shell that killed the A.M.C. Orderly. I consider they exhibited the highest form of individual courage under such trying circumstances.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 31
Date: 7 March 1918

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