GOSPER, Joseph Jonathan
| Service Number: | 6026 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 13th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Upper Colo, New South Wales, Australia, 5 March 1883 |
| Home Town: | Richmond (NSW), Hawkesbury, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Upper Colo Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Orchardist |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 9 August 1918, aged 35 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Richmond War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6026, 13th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 6026, 13th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 6026, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Sydney | |
| 9 Aug 1918: | Involvement Corporal, 6026, 13th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 6026 awm_unit: 13 Battalion awm_rank: Corporal awm_died_date: 1918-08-09 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Joseph Jonathan Gosper and his brother Clarence enlisted on the same day in March 1916. They were given consecutive regimental numbers in the 13th Battalion. Joseph Jonathan was known as ‘Jack’ to his family and friends. They were the sons of Jonathan and Mary Elizabeth Gosper, of Upper Colo, New South Wales. They were both farmers at the time. Their father, Jonathan, a much-respected pioneer of the area who had lived in Colo all of his life, had passed away during 1906.
Jack’s younger brother, 6025 Pte. Clarence Raymond Rudolph Gosper 19th Battalion AIF was killed in action at Bullecourt on 3 May 1917, aged 28.
Clarence and Jack arrived in England on 17 October 1916. Jack was badly wounded at Bullecourt on 11 April 1917. His gunshot wounds to the thigh and shoulder were treated at Rouen in France and he rejoined his unit on 26 June 1917.
Jack Gosper was promoted to Corporal during early 1918 and he was killed in action on 9 August 1918 towards the end of the Battle of Hamel. He and his brother Clarence have no known graves.
The local newspaper reported “They were both fine soldiers, and it is men like them that have made Australia famous.”