John William GAVIN

GAVIN, John William

Service Number: 1385
Enlisted: 12 July 1915
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 9th Light Horse Regiment
Born: Peterhead, Scotland, date not yet discovered
Home Town: Cockburn, South Australia
Schooling: Tornaveen Public School, by Torphins
Occupation: Locomotive Engine Cleaner
Died: Killed in Action, Canal Zone, Egypt, 9 August 1916, age not yet discovered
Cemetery: Kantara War Memorial Cemetery
Row B, Grave No. 73
Memorials: Adelaide National War Memorial, Adelaide South Australian Railways WW1 & WW2 Honour Boards, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Terowie Institute Honour Board
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World War 1 Service

12 Jul 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1
27 Oct 1915: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1385, 9th Light Horse Regiment, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: ''
27 Oct 1915: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1385, 9th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Benalla, Adelaide

Help us honour John William Gavin's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon

Son of John Gavin. NoK Mrs Mary Gavin of Torphins.

Enlisted June 1915 Cockburn
City Roll of Honour: 52 Whitehall Place, Aberdeen.

There are five Australian soldier casualties of the Great War honoured on this memorial and also a Pilot Officer of the Royal Australian Air Force  who died in WWII.

The others are:

Private WILLIAM BEWS,   493 31st Bn Australian Infantry 

Private GEORGE GORDON, 1683 50th Bn Australian Infantry.

Lt Col JOHN ALEXANDER MILNE,  DSO 36th Bn Australian Expeditionary Force  

L/cpl JOHN THOMSON,  1273 Australian Army Medical Corps 15th Field Ambulance 

Pilot Officer WILLIAM GEORGE CRUICKSHANK, Royal Australian Air Force.

 

Kincardine O'Neil - Kincardine & Deeside District 
UKNIWM Ref No. 5854 

The people of Torphins decided to build a memorial hospital and it was named the Kincardine O'Neil Memorial Hospital. It is therefore possible that the names listed on this Kincardine O'Neil memorial are the same as those listed on the Torphins monument.

The Kincardine O'Neil war memorial is a rustic granite pillar with a pinkish hue set on a pedestal with an inverted sword carved in shallow relief on the face of the pillar. The pedestal is set into a rough cairn of tumbled boulders. The commemoration and names of the dead are listed on dressed granite tablets set into the face of the pedestal. 
The monument stands in gardens by the roadside of the A93 in the village. 

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Biography

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

 

Embarkation Roll (static.awm.gov.au)shows Surname as GARIN - Service Record (recordsearch.naa.gov.au)shows Surname as GAVIN

 

"THE LATE PRIVATE J. W. GAVIN.

Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Munro, Woodville, has received news that Private John W. Gavin, who left for the front in October last, was killed in action on August 9. Prior to his enlistment he was in the employment of the Loco. Department of the South Australian railways at Cockburn and Terowie, where he was highly esteemed by a large circle of friends." - Adelaide Chronicle 30 Sep 1916 (nla.gov.au)

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