Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Quinn Albert John Biography

Quinn Albert John was born in Forreston South Australia. He had a fresh complexion which basically means he was pale and had clear skin. He had blue eyes and light brown hair. He was 5 feet and 7.5 inches tall which was half an inch shorter than the average height at the time which was 5 foot 8 inches. During World War I, the average height for a soldier was 5 feet 6 inches which makes Albert slightly taller than majority of his peers.

He lived with his mother, Mrs Janet Quinn, and worked as a farmer. At the time, being a farmer was actually a very popular job as most areas in the hills and foothills were farms or market gardens.  Albert was not married which suggests that most of the money he earned farming was used to support his mother. Albert was also a Baptist.

Quinn Albert John joined the army on the 20th of March 1916 as a private. He was part of the 43rd infantry battalion. His battalion trained with many others including the 41st, 42nd and 44th battalions. Within days of signing up, Albert was sent to a training camp in Woodside South Australia. They took part in many routine training sessions to prepare the new soldiers for embarkation. Their training included drills, military command and operating equipment like machine guns and other types of machinery.

Quinn embarked on the HMAT A19 Afric on the 9th on June 1916. The HMAT Afric was a large cargo and passenger ship. The soldiers stopped briefly in Egypt before travelling on to England for further training where they took part in routine marches, equipment trials and more drills. He went over to France in November 1916.

Not long after arriving, on 19 February 1917, Quinn was wounded in the knee. According to the 43rd Battalion's war diary, this was a day of heavy enemy artillery activity. He was evacuated to England for treatment but his leg did not recoer to the point where he could resume front line duty. The decision was made to return him to Australia.

There is not much information on what happened to Albert once he returned to Australia, but he did win a few medals. These medals include the WWI Victory Medal which was awarded to soldiers by Great Britan and a British War Medal which is given to those who worked in the Australian Navy, Army and to men and women of the Mercantile Marine.

It would be assumed that he most likely returned to his home in Forreston and continued his farming job. He have no details of his later life.

Reference List

ACT, R. (2013b). British War Medal 1914-20 : World War One : Department of Defence. [online] Defence.gov.au. Available at: https://www.defence.gov.au/Medals/Imperial/WWI/British-War-Medal-1914-20.asp.

birtwistlewiki.com.au. (n.d.). HMAT A19 Afric - Our Contribution. [online] Available at: https://birtwistlewiki.com.au/wiki/HMAT_A19_Afric [Accessed 8 Mar. 2021].

National Archives of Australia. (1914). QUINN Albert John : Service Number - 1151 : Place of Birth - Forreston SA : Place of Enlistment - Adelaide SA : Next of Kin - (Mother) QUINN Janet. [online] Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8022993 [Accessed 8 Mar. 2021].

Virtual War Memorial Australia THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION TROVE AUSTRALIA THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA. (n.d.). [online] . Available at: https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/rslvwm/comfy/cms/files/files/000/002/383/original/Research_Checklist_WW1.pdf.

Vwma.org.au. (2015). 43rd Infantry Battalion. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/64.

www.awm.gov.au. (n.d.). Advanced Search | Australian War Memorial. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search?query=43+battalion.

www.awm.gov.au. (n.d.). HMAT Afric. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2076729.

corporateName=Department of Veterans’ Affairs; address=21 Genge St, C.C. (n.d.). Training Australian army recruits during World War I | Anzac Portal. [online] anzacportal.dva.gov.au. Available at: https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/military-organisation/training.

www.parliament.vic.gov.au. (n.d.). Review of ANZAC Day Laws - Chapter 2. [online] Available at: https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/archive/sarc/ANZAC_Acts/Report/Chapter_2.htm#:~:text=ANZAC%20values%20include%20such%20human.

By Tim Hanna based on 'The Changing Valley, Forreston 1839 to 1989' by Eric Jamieson

Albert John 'Bert' Quinn was born in 1887, the eldest of two sons to Albert and Janet Quinn. Albert grew up on the family farm at Forreston and played football for the Gumeracha Football Club in the years before he joined the Army in 1916.

Bert served with the 43rd Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force. After travelling to England where pre-deployment training was conducted, Bert moved to Europe in late December 1916. The 43rd Infantry Battalion spent the winter of 1916/17 bogged down in bloody trench warfare in Flanders.

In February 1917 Bert was wounded in both legs and was evacuated to England for treatment. It was determined that he could not be sufficiently treated to return him to service on the Western Front so he was repatriated to Australia in July of the same year.

Arriving in Adelaide in September 1917, the Gumeracha community held a welcome home event at the local Baptist church shortly thereafter. He was discharged a month later in October 1917.

Bert Quinn returned to the family farm 'Tollcross' but, due to his permanently injured left knee never played sport again.

in 1919 Bert married Evelyn 'Kitty' Pannell. They had two children. Their son Eldred (1923-45) served in the Royal Australian Air Force and was killed in the last week of hostilities against the Japanese.

Throughout World War II Bert grew vegetables for the war effort. When fundraising was undertaken for the Forreston Memorial Hall, Bert grew and donated large quantities of vegetables for the cause. He and Kitty also donated the clock in the memorial tower of the hall which was, in part, dedicated to their son Eldred.

Tragically, Bert was killed in 1963, two years after the memorial hall was opened, as a result of a falling tree on his property at Forreston.