S7421
DOWLING, Arthur John
| Service Number: | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Naas, Kildare, Ireland, September 1870 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Shopkeeper |
| Died: | Norwood, 16 July 1952, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2019, 32nd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 2019, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Miltiades embarkation_ship_number: A28 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 2019, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Miltiades, Adelaide | |
| 23 Aug 1916: | Wounded Private, 2019, 32nd Infantry Battalion | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Sergeant, 2019, 32nd Infantry Battalion | |
| 9 Mar 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 2019, 32nd Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Life Before the War
John Arthur Dowling was born in Naas, Kildare, Ireland. He was born in 1870 sometime during September.
When he was 44 11/12, he enlisted to enter the war in Adelaide, South Australia. He had previously been in the Army Service Corps, and served for 12 months in South Africa during the Boer War. He had to go through training when he served there. Afterwards, he became a tobacconist. He did not have a wife or any children. It is unsure when he moved to Australia, but whilst here, he lived in Norwood. His next of kin when he enlisted was his friend Mr William Arscott. He lived on the Parade, Norwood, South Australia.
Life in Service
After enlistment John travelled to Suez in Egypt on board the HMAT Miltiades A28. He embarked from Adelaide, South Australia on 7 February 1916. He most likely went through training during his stay in Egypt. Afterword, he met up with the rest of the 32nd battalion in Zeitoun on 1 April 1916. The 32nd battalion had undergone training in Western Australian at Blackboy Hill. The new recruits in all of the armies were put through three months of basic training. This was in order to build up physical fitness, confidence, discipline, obedience and to teach them the fundamental military skills. They had to wake up early and were put through hard training.
Because the battalion that John was in was an infantry battalion, the weapons he most likely used were Heavy Machine Guns, Webley Revolvers, Bayonets and hand grenades. Different battalions carried different weapons.
Injuries/Sicknesses
After being wounded in France on 23rd August 1916, he was admitted to the 14th Field Ambulance. 4 days later, he was moved to the 8th Casualty Clearing Station to further treat his injury. It was located further back from the front lines than the Aid posts and Field ambulances. After transferring to the 15th Field Ambulance on 9th September, he proceeded to re-join the 32nd battalion on 25th September. 1 month
On the 5th October 1916, he was admitted into the 8th Field Ambulance because of a disease he caught called rheumatism. It is a condition that affects your joints, muscles or immune system. Many other soldiers caught this disease as the living conditions inside the trenches were appalling. Afterwards, John was transferred to the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station on 6th October 1916 and re-joined his battalion on 27th October 1916. 22 days
On 2nd December 1916, he was admitted to the 15th Field Ambulance and transferred to England on board the H.S Wandilla. He had caught another disease that many others caught as well called trench foot. It is a medical condition caused by exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary and cold conditions. He was than admitted to the 8th Southern General Hospital, Bristol, England 7th December. Afterwards, he transferred to 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, 20 December 1916. He was discharged from hospital and proceeded to march in to Weymouth Command Depot on 29th January 1917.
Weymouth Command Depot
The Weymouth Command Depot was the first of the four Command Depots whose main purpose was to receive Australian soldiers whom had been in hospital and only recently discharged and deemed fit to return to the front lines within a period of approximately three months. Because the people coming from the hospital would have already experienced training and fought on the front lines, the main purpose of this Depot was to get the men fit again, hardening them up for when they returned to the front lines. For the soldiers who had been wounded and shipped to hospitals in England, there was no defined process for their recovery and training.
Promotions
John was promoted to ER/2Corporal at the Australian Imperial Force Depot in United Kingdom on 10th May 1918. He then marched in to Sutton Veny Command Depot on 11th September 1918 where he was promoted to T/Sergeant on 20 December 1918. He was promoted to ER/Sergeant in Tidworth on 1st May 1919.
After the War
On the 22 January 1920, he commenced his return to Australia on board the HT Friedrichsruh. After landing in Melbourne, he travelled back to Adelaide on 9th March 1920 and was officially discharged on the same day at the age of around 50. After the war, he met his wife Annie Marie Whelan and married her in 1927 in Adelaide.
Medals
After the war, Arthur John Dowling received the Victory Medal. The victory medal was authorised in 1919 to commemorate the victory over the Central Powers. It was only given to people who entered a theatre of war between the 5th August 1914 to 11th November 1918.
He also received the British War Medal. It was given to people in the Navy, Army, Mercantile Marine and Army.
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