Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

MACKENZIE John Cameron  #2374  26th / 12th Battalion
 
John Mackenzie was born at Kirkconnell in Scotland. He emigrated to Australia with his family when he was 10 years old and then attended Palmwoods State School. When John enlisted on 26th June 1915, he was 27 years old, married to Agnes Mackenzie, and gave his occupation as labourer. John named Agnes as his next of kin and gave her address as Caboolture. It is possible that John and other family members were employed by Queensland Government Railways as throughout the war years, various family members gave addresses at Cooroy, Landsborough and Caboolture. It is also possible that John worked in the Strathpine/North Pine area, but there is no definitive evidence of this.
 
One month after John’s enlistment, his younger brother William Gordon Mackenzie also enlisted. Both brothers would find themselves allotted as reinforcements for the 26th Battalion and embarked together on the “Warilda” in Brisbane on 5th October 1915. John allocated 3/- of his daily pay to his wife, Agnes.
 
After the evacuation of the AIF from Gallipoli in December 1915, the number of divisions within the AIF was expanded from two to five. Most of the original ANZAC battalions were split to form the nucleus of two new battalions, with the new reinforcements being added to bring each unit up to strength. Strangely, both John and his brother William were reallocated to the 12th Battalion during this reorganisation. Battalions in the AIF were usually state based. The 12th Battalion was unusual in that it was made up of two companies from WA, and one each from SA and Tasmania. Given that both brothers were transferred to the 12th, it is likely that the move was requested. Neither file sheds any light on the reason for the transfers.
 
The 12th Battalion, as part of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division, left Egypt on 5th April 1916 and on arrival in Marseilles, travelled by train to the Armentieres sector of the western front for familiarisation with the routines of trench warfare. The first major engagement for the 1st Division was the successful capture of the village of Pozieres as part of the Somme campaign in July 1916. The division was sent north to the Ypres salient for the latter part of the year but returned to the Somme for the winter. The spring of 1917 saw a phased withdrawal by the Germans on the Somme back to pre-prepared defences on the Hindenburg line. While pursuing the Germans, the 12th Battalion was caught in a rear-guard counterattack at Bapaume on 5thMay 1917; suffering 35 killed and 220 wounded. John was one of those wounded sustaining a shrapnel wound to his right arm. He was transported to the Australian Hospital at Rouen for treatment and was back with his battalion a month later.
 
The 12th Brigade had earned a decent rest after the Somme and moved to rest camps in Belgian Flanders. While in camp, John made his will naming his wife, Agnes, as his sole beneficiary. In September, he enjoyed two weeks leave in England and on his return was promoted to lance corporal, followed by a stint at Corps Training School. In his absence, the 12th was engaged in the battles of Polygon Wood and Passchendaele.
 
During the winter of 1917/18 John was hospitalised at the 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham with trench fever. When the German Spring offensive began on the Somme in March 1918, the 12th as part of the 1st Division remained in Flanders while the rest of the Australian divisions were sent to the Somme. On 1stMay 1918, 10 men of the 12th were killed when a large German artillery shell landed on the ridge pole of a hut they were sleeping in, well behind the front line. John McKenzie was one of the 10. John was buried in the Le Peuplier Military Cemetery near Bailleul.
 
Agnes McKenzie had changed address several times while John was overseas and it took the authorities months to track her movements. She eventually received John’s personal effects which included the usual letters, photos and cards as well as a cigarette case and a whistle and lanyard. There were also some items located in Egypt which included a book in Arabic and a horse bell. The Egyptian items did not make it back to Australia as the ship that was to convey a number of parcels of personal effects, the “Barunga” was torpedoed off the Scilly Isles and sank, taking its cargo to the bottom. Agnes was granted a pension of two pounds per fortnight. The authorities were informed that Agnes died in the early 1920’s (perhaps due to the influenza pandemic) and John’s mother received the 1914/15 Star, Empire Medal and Victory Medal. John’s younger brother survived the war and returned to Australia in 1919. John Mackenzie is also commemorated on the Pine Rivers Roll of Honour.