GILLIGAN, John
| Service Number: | 1493 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 December 1914, Lismore, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cullendulla, Batemans Bay, New South Wales, Australia, 1884 |
| Home Town: | Lismore, Lismore Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 1 February 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial Villers-Bretonneux, Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Lismore, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Feb 1915: | Involvement Private, 1493, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Choon embarkation_ship_number: A49 public_note: '' | |
| 13 Feb 1915: | Embarked Private, 1493, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Choon, Brisbane | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1493, 15th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 23 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1493, 15th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières | |
| 1 Feb 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 1493, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1493 awm_unit: 15th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-02-01 |
John Gilligan - My Great Uncle
John Gilligan was 27 on 24 December , 1914 when he enlisted in Lismore NSW with his Brother Francis Abraham Gilligan (aged 24). Francis Abraham was my Father's Father (James Gilligan).
We knew nothing of Great Uncle John's story until I started doing Family research some years ago. I have been able to put a poppy on the wall in Canberra to acknowledge him and his great sacrifice.
Francis stayed on in different WW1 postings until his return due to ill health in 1917. Francis married Agnes Ellen Schneider in Casino in 1918, they had four children John, Gladys, James and Lorraine (Mary), then separated and divorced due to his health issues following great personal damage from this war.
It took me years to find Dad's Father for him and only by coincidence, visiting an old cousin in Casino did we see that he had died in Brisbane in 1943 aged 53.
I purchased his death certificate and sadly noted that his family did not note his children on his death certificate.
Also he is buried under grass with no plaque in the Anzac area of Lutwyche Cemetery in Brisbane. I have laid flowers at this site (from cemetery records).
I do not understand why a veteran of so much great commitment to the war effort, who also suffered the death of his Brother, was not given the dignity of a plaque.
I am in the process of having my Grandfather who I did not know acknowledged as the committed, hard working Australian citizen and Service Man that he was.
Amanda Gilligan
Submitted 16 March 2016 by Amanda Gilligan
Biography contributed by Karen Standen
LANCE CORPORAL JOHN "JACK" GILLIGAN #1493
Six years separated brothers, John Gilligan and Francis Abraham Gilligan, both well-known in Nowra and the broader Shoalhaven district, as were other members of their family. Known as Jack and Frank, the pair enlisted in Lismore, New South Wales (where their mother resided) on Christmas Eve 1914 and almost immediately travelled to Enoggera, where they were assigned to the 3rd Reinforcements, 15th Australian Infantry Battalion.
Embarking together in Brisbane on 13 February 1915, Jack and Frank were bound for Egypt and ultimately Gallipoli. Frank became seriously ill on the peninsula and was returned to Australia in June 1916 for discharge.
Jack's experiences at Gallipoli were summed up in a letter written to his mother in July 1915:-"...I never got hit at all. I got knocked out one night with the rifle, a bomb hit it and broke the rifle into pieces in my hands, a piece hit me on the head. I have seen some terrible sights here. I have seen men blown to pieces along side of me, and shot dead next where I was standing. I have been in three bayonet charges. It makes you feel queer when you crawl over the parapet of the trenches with your bayonet fixed to charge machine guns playing on you all the time. The bombs are the worst here, they shake you up some..."
Twelve months later, having survived Gallipoli and the AIF's reorganisation, Jack sailed with the 15th Battalion arriving in France in June. He immediately succumbed to a bout of mumps before re-joining his battalion which were preparing for their first major action in France at Pozieres. Towards the end of October 1916, Jack was promoted to Lance Corporal in the field near Zillebeke.
In late January 1917, the battlefield was a frozen wasteland. On the evening of 1 February, Jack Gilligan was among the 70 men of C Company to attack and take their section of a German trench, named 'Stormy Trench' at Guedecourt, about 60 yards from their front line. Their success was short lived. In the early hours of the following morning, under a series of strong German counter-attacks and the failure of supporting artillery to respond to the Australian's SOS signal for close to an hour, they were forced to fall back to their original starting position, leaving behind their dead and wounded.
It appears Jack was wounded during the initial attack, reaching the German wire but dying shortly after. He was reportedly "...buried on the Somme by the Germans who put his name and number on a board..." also described as a cross. Three months later the 54th Battalion reported Jack's burial, presumably reburial, by Lieutenant Seymour, the 5th Division Burial Officer, in a location that would be ultimately lost in ensuing battles.
Lance Corporal J. Gilligan is remembered with Honour on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and the Soldiers Memorial Gates in Nowra, New South Wales.
K. Standen 2022
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