TURNBULL, John Seymour
| Service Number: | 682 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 September 1914, Original of F Company |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | Royal Flying Corps |
| Born: | Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia, 22 October 1895 |
| Home Town: | Darlinghurst, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Aircraft Battle, Killed In Action, Chuignes, France, 17 June 1918, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Arras Flying Services Memorial |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 682, 13th Infantry Battalion, Original of F Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Sergeant, 682, 13th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Sergeant, 682, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 6 Apr 1915: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 682, 13th Infantry Battalion, Discharged with Commission to the Royal Flying Corps | |
| 7 Apr 1915: | Involvement Royal Flying Corps |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
John Seymour Turnbull was born in Sydney 22 October 1895, and his father was the Manager of the National Bank in Sydney. He enlisted in the original 13th Battalion which left Sydney in December 1914. Somehow he got a commission in the Royal Flying Corps and was discharged from the AIF before the Anzac Landings. He became an ace shooting down five German aircraft before he was killed in 1918.
Promoted to temporary Second Lieutenant on 20 March 1915 and later posted to 56 Squadron, John Seymour Turnbull was wounded in action fighting against Jasta 6 and forced to land his S.E.5 (A4861) behind British lines on 12 July 1917. He had shot down two German fighters at this time. After he recovered from wounds to both legs, he was reassigned to 41 Squadron. Turnbull was credited with three more victories in May and June of 1918 before he was killed in action on 17 June 1918 when his S.E.5a was shot down by German pilot August Delling of Jasta 34. He has no known grave and remembered on the Arras Flying Memorial.
He is not currently remembered on the Commemorative Roll at the Australian War Memorial, perhaps because his father died in 1914, and at the time his mother was in England.
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