Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Staff Sergeant John George Ronaldson Horne (Service Nos:VX31483/VX124434/V144652) initially served in the AIF (11 June 1940 - 4 August 1941) as a Private/Lance Sergeant attached to 2/21st Infantry Battalion. Sergeant Horne then enlisted in the ACMF on 17 December 1941 - Cipher Clerk - attached to LHQ Signals Cipher Section. Staff Sergeant Horne was Discharged on  13 January 1944. Two brothers - Donald and Urquhart - also served in WWII.

John was born in Warrnambool, Victoria in 1907, fourth of nine children of William Horne (b1869 in Allansford via Warrnambool, Victoria) and Catherine Imlah/Imlay (b1874 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland). William and Catherine married in 1900 in Warrnambool, and settled in Allansford where they raised their family and William was a Grazier.

John worked as an Assistant Grazier at Englefield Station, Balmoral and as a Farmer at Larpent. In 1931, John married Verna Emily Clifford Rogers (b1904 in Daylesford, Victoria) - Verna was working in Melbourne as a Teacher. John and Verna settled at Larpent via Colac, where John was a Farmer until 1940 when they were in Melbourne - John was working as a Dairy Inspector and Organiser - when he enlisted in the Army. Following his Discharge, John and Verna returned to Larpent where he was a Farmer. In the late 1940s the family moved to Iluka at Yulong via Colac, where in 1949 John was a Country Party Nomination for the Legislative Council elections. In the early 1970s John and Verna retired to Melbourne, where John died in 1974 and Verna in 1985.