LANGLANDS, John Robert
| Service Numbers: | 162, 160 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 December 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Trooper |
| Last Unit: | 1st Light Horse Brigade HQ |
| Born: | Forfar, Scotland, 1890 |
| Home Town: | Yass, Yass Valley, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Groom |
| Died: | Natural causes, Boggabri, New South Wales, 26 January 1978 |
| Cemetery: |
Boggabri General Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Walbundrie Memorial Hall Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Trooper, 162, 12th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 162, 12th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Vestalia embarkation_ship_number: A44 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 162, 12th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Vestalia, Sydney | |
| 25 Aug 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Trooper, 162, 12th Light Horse Regiment, HT Marquet, Alexandria for Gallipoli | |
| 29 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Trooper, 160, 12th Light Horse Regiment, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Absorbed into 1st Light Horse Regiment. | |
| 29 Aug 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Trooper, 1st Light Horse Brigade HQ | |
| 20 Dec 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Trooper, 162, 1st Light Horse Brigade HQ, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Disembarked at Alexandria after evacuation. | |
| 23 Jun 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Trooper, 162, 1st Light Horse Brigade HQ, Returned to Australia in 'Ulimaroa' on 24 April 1919. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Scottish lad John Robert (Jock) Langlands emigrated to Australia in 1911.
In late 1914 he enlsited in the AIF for service in World War 1. Surviving the conflict on Gallipoli and in the Middle Eastern desert he drew a soldier settler block near Boggabri, New South Wales after the war and remained there for the rest of his long life.
Jock grew up in the shadow of Glamis Castle in Scotland where his father was a shepherd. After arriving in Australia, he went to the Walbundrie area, near Yass in southern New South Wales, where he worked until the outbreak of war.
He enlisted in the Australian Light Horse and served on Gallipoli in the later months of the campaign whre he was transferred from the 12th Light Horse to the 1st Light Horse Brigade Headquarters.
When the Australian forces withdrew from Gallipoli, Trooper Langlands and his horse Darkie were sent to serve in the desert campaign in Egypt and Palestine.
When the war ended he was looking forward to visiting his family in Scotland. But two weeks before he was to sail to England he contracted malaria, hospitalised and then sent back to Australia.
A keen photographer, Jock had a large box-bellows camera, which he used extensively in Egypt and Palestine. Many of his nitrate negatives were gifted by his family to the Australian War Memorial.
After his return he worked for a time as a chauffeur in Sydney for his army Captain, John Burns a principal of Burns, Philp & Co Ltd, the merchant shipping and trading conglomerate.
In 1921 at Marrickville he married a fellow Scot, Helen Thompson Beedie and when the couple drew a soldiers settlers block, they moved to Boggabri. They named their property 'Strathmore' and raised four children.
The Scottish soldier remain on his "little piece of Australia" for the rest of his life. Jock Langlands died on Australia Day 1978 at the age of 87.
Credit: RG McLean
Click images to start slideshow.