John went to Australia in 1913 aged 18 to take up sheep-farming. He joined the 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment in Sydney on the 27/11/1914 and left for Egypt on the 06/02/1915 aboard HMAT Clan Maccorquodale A6. He proceeded to the Dardanelles on the 10/07/1915 and he was Killed in Action at the Assault at Lone Pine, Gallipoli on the morning of the 07/08/1915 in the heroic charge of the 1st Light Horse. 200 men were involved, 147 became casualties. The Regiment left Gallipoli on the 21/12/1915. The Battle : Lone Pine was an action that featured one of the most famous assaults of the Gallipoli campaign. The attack was planned as a diversion for the Australian and New Zealand units that were to breakout from the Anzac perimeter by capturing the heights of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. At 5.30 pm on the 06/08/1915, the Australian artillery barrage lifted and from concealed trenches in No Man's Land the 1st Australian Brigade charged towards the Turkish trenches. The troops paused on reaching the Turkish trenches, finding that many were covered by timber roofs. Some fired, bombed and bayoneted from above, some found their way inside and others ran on past to the open communications and support trenches behind. Others advanced as far as "the Cup" which was where Turkish support units were located and from where the Turks counter-attacked. By nightfall, most of the enemy front line was in Australian hands and outposts had been established in former Turkish communication trenches. The Australian Engineers dug a safe passage across No Man's Land so that reinforcements could enter the captured positions without being exposed to Turkish fire. Having captured the Turkish trenches, the Australians now tried to hold what they had taken while the Turks desperately and determinedly tried to throw the Australians out. From nightfall on the 6th August until the night of the 9th August a fierce battle ensued underground in the complex maze of Turkish tunnels. The Australians succeeded in drawing the whole of the immediate Turkish reserve. Six Australian Battalions suffered nearly 2,300 killed and wounded at Lone Pine. Seven Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest number ever awarded to an Australian Division for one action. The 1st Light Horse Regiment was raised, from recruits from New South Wales, at Rosebury Park in Sydney in August 1914. It was one of three regiments of the 1st Light Horse Brigade - the first mounted formation committed by Australia to the First World War. John was educated at Gartsherrie Academy and Allan Glens School, Glasgow and is remembered on the Coatbridge Technical College and Dunbeth Parish Churches Rolls of Honour (see photos) and in the St. Augustine's Parish (book) Roll of Honour. See photos for John's listing in the De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Lone Pine Memorial Panel List, his name on the Lone Pine Memorial, another photo of John, the Australian Imperial Forces Cap Badge and John's Service Records x 42. These records and letters concerning John are available to view here -
Australian record
