MCCALL, John Patrick Lawton
| Service Number: | OFFICER |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Last Unit: | Signals Headquarters |
| Born: | Cork, Ireland, 4 November 1860 |
| Home Town: | Marrickville, Marrickville, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Winchester College, Hampshire, England |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Natural causes, Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia, 9 July 1935, aged 74 years |
| Cemetery: |
Woronora Memorial Park, Sutherland, New South Wales |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Major, 1st Field Company Engineers | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Major, OFFICER, 1st Field Company Engineers | |
| 8 Aug 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lieutenant Colonel, Signals Headquarters | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Major, 1st Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: '' embarkation_ship: HMAT Clan MacCorquodale embarkation_ship_number: A6 public_note: '' | |
| Date unknown: | Embarked Major, 1st Field Company Engineers, HMAT Clan MacCorquodale |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Lieut.-Colonel J. P. L. McCall, whose death occurred on the 9th July 1935 at his home, 'St. Cross,' Cranbrook Road, Rose Bay, was in his 74th year.
A native of Cork, Ireland, Lieut.-Colonel McCall, with his parents, went to Winchester, England. From his father, who had served in the Crimean War, he inherited a love of soldiering, and at the age of 18 years joined the Hampshire Volunteer Battalion.
In 1884 he enlisted with Methuen's Horse for service with the Bechuanaland Expedition, in which one of the junior officers was Lieutenant (later Field Marshal) Lord Allenby. For service in that campaign he received the Cape of Good Hope Medal with the Bechuanaland clasp. Coming to Australia shortly afterwards he joined the Queensland Volunteer Rifles as a non-commissioned officer, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1891. Two years later he came to New South Wales and became associated with the Irish Rifles, and when the Boer War broke out departed with the 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles in 1900 for South Africa and served during the campaign, receiving the Queen's Medal and five clasps. Returning to Sydney in 1902 he joined the 1st Infantry Volunteer Regiment, and in 1903 was promoted captain. When the Signallers' Corps was formed in 1906 he was appointed to the command, and in 1914 was promoted major. At the beginning of the Great War he was requested by the Defence authorities to take command of the 1st Field Company Engineers.
At the attack at Anzac in 1915 his Field Company was specially selected to land with the 3rd Infantry Brigade, and he himself was in one of the first boatloads of troops to get ashore. He served throughout the Gallipoli campaign, and upon the reorganisation of the Australian army, after the evacuation, was given command of tho newly formed signalling squadron with the Anzac Mounted Division and served throughout the Sinai and Palestine campaigns. He was then appointed Assistant Director of Army Signals, A.I.F., in Egypt at the end of 1917, being promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonol.
He was mentioned twice in despatches, and was one of the few Australian officers to receive tho Egyptian Order of the Nile. His other decorations included the 1914-15 Star, General Service Medal, and the Victory Medal; subsequently he was awarded the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration.
Lieut.-Colonel McCall retired from the military forces in 1921 on account of his reaching the age limit. For a time he was president of the South African Soldiers' Association, vice-president of the Rose Bay sub-branch of the Returned Soldiers' League, and in civil life was a member of the staff of the Sydney City Council.
Source: Catholic Press, Thursday 18 July 1935, page 18
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104505741
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