Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Alexander Speight

After losing both his parents by the time he was 15 years of age, John Alexander Speight would have learnt early in life to be self- reliant. This would have helped him get through  what could be imagined to be some very challenging times in his life, one of those being service in World War One.

John was the third of four sons born to Joseph Speight from Yorkshire, England and Sarah Lynas from Ireland. [1] He was born on 18 November, 1886 at Newry, Armagh, Ireland. [2] John also had 5 paternal half-sisters.

John has recorded Whitehaven, Cumberland, as place of birth on his Service War record [3] possibly because that is where he lived as a small child with his father and three brothers. They resided there following the death of John’s mother Sarah in Ireland [4] when John was four years of age.

The census record of 1901 shows John and his older brothers working as ‘Yardman’ on a farm at Braham near Leeds, Yorkshire, when John was 14 years of age.[5] Father Joseph passed away a year later in Bramham, in 1902. [6]

John would now face the challenges of life in England as a young person without his parents, this may have lead him to making a decision to leave that country for another as a young adult. John’s war service record [7] claims he was in an apprenticeship at Kelbrook now part of Lancashire, probably as a carpenter, before he emigrated from England to Australia in 1911, this was to start work on the Railway construction of North Queensland.[8] 

John Alexander Speight enlisted in 1915, [9] in the Australian Imperial Force in World War One, while residing in Oolbun, via Townsville, Queensland. [10] John was one of 18% of men from Britain to enlist in Australia.[11] He may have considered it his duty, and also a chance to see his brothers again; John’s Nominal Roll record  [12]  indicates next of kin as his brother James Speight (James Gilmer Speight), residing in England.

John enlisted in Townsville on 11 October 1915 aged 26 years and 11 months; [13] John’s rank was Private and his Service no. 4889.  [14] He was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds. Chest 37.39½, Complexion Dark, Eyes Grey, Hair Dark Brown. [15]

Between October 1915 to March 1916, John was training to be a soldier most likely at Enoggera in Brisbane. [16] John was in the 15th Reinforcements;  [17] set to serve with the Queensland formed 9th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, in the 1st Division. [18] 

John left Australia’s shores in Brisbane, Queensland, on 28 March 1916, bound for Egypt, on board the ship the HMAT A73 Commonwealth  [19]

Private Speight and the other reinforcements continued training at Tel-el-Kabir training camp, roughly 40 km east of Ismailia, Egypt.  [20] Leave into Cairo was limited for those at the training camps;  [21] John’s son Les relates how his father explained that a crossed over shoe lace could disqualify the eager soldier from leave, but John managed to get special leave for immaculate dress while in Egypt. [22]

In  July 1916, John and  the 3rd training battalion, departed Egypt on the H.T. Arcadian, bound for Europe. In August 1916, they  arrived at the training Camp, Perham Downs, Salisbury, England, John remaining there until further training commenced in mid-October  at the large British army camp and training base at Etaples, France. [23]

After months of training, John was about to experience conditions on the Western Front. On 18 December 1916, Private Speight is ‘Taken on Strength’ into the 9th Battalion in Flers, France. [24]

For the next 27 months, John was on the Western Front with the 9th Battalion and also convalescing at various locations due to injury.

John would have experienced the trenches of the Western Front, full of mud and pests, they were often a horror for the soldiers, but also protection from the enemy. John’s son Les relates how his father learnt to keep his head low in the trenches to save his life. 

John’s role on the Western Front was that of   Stretcher-bearer – those who responded first to injuries. [25] It was among the most hazardous of jobs and there were significant losses in this role. [26]

On 20 September 1917, the 9th Battalion saw action as part of the Battle of Ypres,  that resulted in many casualties. Stretcher-bearer Private Speight survived the battle of the 20 September but was injured by shrapnel  [27] but he selflessly continued working. He was later awarded a Military Medal, and this commendation for his actions that day:  [28] [29]

'Near Hooge, France on 20 September, 1917, during the operations of Glencorse and Polygonvelde Woods,  Pte. Speight carried out the duties of Stretcher Bearer. He was wounded at the commencement of operations but nevertheless continued to carry out his duties, rendering First Aid to others under very heavy artillery fire. He carried out these duties for 24 hours when he was relieved owing to the wound rendering his arm useless. His splendid determination and devotion to duty under the most trying conditions are worthy of the highest praise.'

                                                              Major General, Commanding 1st Australian Division.  [30]                        

After shrapnel injury  [31] John was transferred to a Casualty Clearing Station, then hospital, Convalescent Depots, then a Rest Camp. [32]  John’s sons have relayed how their father was injured  [33] by an Anti-Personnel Grenade (Egg Grenade) which used to be thrown at soldiers as they utilised the latrines.  John had shrapnel in his leg for the rest of his life.  [34]

On 4 October 1917 Private Speight was ‘Marched in’ to Havre, France, before 18 October being at the Australian Divisional Base Depot, from where he was ‘Marched out’ to the  9th Battalion at Havre on 20 October.  [35]

John Speight was awarded a bar to the Military Medal and commendation for his bravery in what is described as ‘a minor operation’  [36]:  

‘In an operation against the enemy position near Strazeele on morning of 20th June, 1918, Pte. Speight as a Stretcher Bearer did fine work with Pte. Scrivener in clearing the wounded from the forward position under very heavy Machine Gun and Shell fire. By his coolness and devotion to duty he set a splendid example to his comrades.’  [37]

Awarded M.M. L.G. Supplement 30431 of 17/12/17

Major-General, Commanding 1st Australian division  [38]

 The Battle of Amiens began in August 1918  [39] resulting in many casualties in the 9th, including John Speight who was ‘Wounded in Action’ on 17 Aug 1918 resulting in transfer to a Casualty Clearing Station and an unidentified hospital.  [40] 

Due to disease and sickness, [41] Private Speight was invalided to the Reading War Hospital, England, on 7 September 1918. [42] After recovery, John appears to have returned to France to furlough for 14 days in October 1918 at No. 1 Convalescent Depot at Boulogne, France. John was then back in England at Sutton Veny in 1919. [43]

In March 1919, John’s service war records the abbreviation R.B.A.A. indicating  he may have been involved in the Reserve Brigade Australia Artillery.  [44] This appears to be his last service in World War 1 in Europe.

Private Speight returned to Australia per the ‘Warwickshire’ on 5 April 1919. [45]  disembarking on 28 May 1919. The war ended on 28 June 1919, and John was discharged from duty in Brisbane on 16 July 1919, having served in the Great War for three years and 280 days. [46]

John returned to Townsville, Queensland, [47] to resume work on the railways  [48] before moving to Brisbane becoming a Commercial Traveller working for tea merchants Edwards & Co. Ltd and later for Atcherley & Dawson, Tea, Coffee & Cocoa Merchants in 1924.  [49]

John married Irene Palmer [50] in Brisbane, Queensland, on 5 November 1926. After marriage, John's work with Atcherley & Dawson was based at Rockhampton, Central Queensland, and John would visit customers on their farms and in towns, in the Dawson and Callide valleys, and coastal strip to Bundaberg, Queensland. [51] Rockhampton became their home for the rest of their lives.  [52] John and Irene had a family of four children, John, Leslie, Raymond and Jean.

John was away from home a lot, so being very skilled in mechanical repairs was a great asset as he had to repair his own vehicle on many occasions on the road. He could strip down a car engine and the rest of the vehicle, and rebuild it again afterwards.[53] John was also skilled at repairing clocks and radios. [54]

John was always accompanied on his trips by the family dog and his family would sometimes accompany him on his trips in the school holidays and camp along the way. John was said to be a good cricketer [55] and joined in local matches on the trip.

John left his employment at age 55, to enlist in the Australian Military Forces (AMF) in World War Two on 4 March 1942. This was under the Citizen Military Forces (CMF), as part of the 15 Australian Garrison Battalion. [56] John was discharged on 23 August 1944, the reason for discharge – emphysema.  [57] The emphysema was claimed to be a result of exposure to gas during World War One. [58] The long-term health outcome of gas poisoning was an on-going controversial debate after the war. [59]

            John’s skills in First Aid remained with him, as Son Les tells the story of an aeroplane crashing and catching on fire in a council field near the Speight home in Rockhampton, during World War 2. John Speight rushed straight to the crash site that was in flames and was immediately at work cutting the clothes off the burnt and critically injured pilot, administering First Aid. This act as civilian correlates to John’s fearlessness as a Stretcher-bearer in the War, and the awards he won for his bravery in putting his own life in danger to save others tell this story.

           After discharge from the CMF in World War Two, John got work as a solderer with J.M. Smith Pty. Limited, tin ware manufacturers and sheet metal workers in Rockhampton. He later worked for Walter Reid & Co in Rockhampton, also as a Solderer, working with his son Les.  [60]

John would march in the Anzac Parade in Rockhampton, his children would join him at the ceremonies held throughout the day, yet like many other soldiers, John rarely spoke of the War, preferring to relay stories from his time of Leave in the war.  [61]

John passed away on 7 December 1960  [62] in Rockhampton after a life that included  brave war service in World War One, rescuing and assisting his comrades, serving in World War Two, work in his communities, being a husband, and helping to raise a family of four children. John continued to work in to his seventies despite the aftermath of the war on his health.

John has a plaque commemorating his war service, at the Queensland Garden of Remembrance, Pinnaroo, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.  [63]  He and wife Irene are buried together at the North Rockhampton Crematorium. 

Gayle Speight 2019

[1] Birth Certificate of John Alexander Speight, born 18 November 1886, Birth Certificate issued in pursuance of Births and Deaths Registration Acts 1863-1972, Dublin, Ireland, 452/58.
[2] Birth Certificate of John Alexander Speight, born 18 November 1886. 
[3] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 1, B2455, National Archives of Australia.
[4] Death certificate of Sarah Speight, died 26 February, 1891, The General Register Office, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 054659/01.
[5] Ancestry, Census Record for John Speight, ‘1901 Census returns of England and Wales, Almshouse Hill, Bramham, Yorkshire’, Accessed 21 March 2009.
[6] Death Certificate of Joseph Speight, died 14 February, 1902, General Registry Office, England, UK, Registration District - Wetherby, Vol. 9A, page 90.
[7] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 1.

 
[8] Raymond Speight to Gayle Speight, email 25 April 2010, original held in author’s possession. 
[9] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 2
[10] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 1
[11] Bill Gammage, The Broken Years: Australian Soldiers in the Great War, Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1974, p. 62.
[12] Australian Imperial Force-Nominal Roll, Speight, John Alexander, Australian War Memorial, p.  112.
[13] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 1.
[14] The Australian War Memorial, ‘First World War Nominal Roll for John Alexander Speight’, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2417846 , Accessed 4 February 2018. 
[15] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 3.
[16] John Speight may have trained at Thompson’s Paddock, Training camp at Enoggera, Brisbane.
[17] Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW, Canberra, Australia, AIF Project, ‘John Alexander Speight’, https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=284052 , Accessed 7 February 2018.

 
[18] Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW, Canberra, Australia, AIF Project, ’Order of Battle’, https://aif.adfa.edu.au/OrderOfBattle/index.html, Accessed 23 March 2018. 
[19] Australian Defence Force Academy, ‘John Alexander Speight’.
[20] Following the Twenty-Second: The First World War through the lives of an Australian Infantry Battalion, ‘Training Camps: Egypt’, https://anzac-22nd-battalion.com/training-camps-egypt/, Accessed 11 March 2018. 
[21] 100 Years of Anzac for SA, ‘Great War Training Camps in Egypt’.
[22] Les Speight, Interview by Gayle Speight, digital recording, Bundaberg, 03 February 2018, in author’s possession. 
[23] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P.  7.
[24] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 7.
[25] Leo Van Bergen, ‘Medicine and Medical Service’, International Encylopedia of the First World War (WW1), https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/medicine_and_medical_service,  Accessed 18 March 2018. 
[26] Australian War Memorial, 1918: Australians in France-Unsung heroes – Australia’s medical personnel, https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/1918/medical, Accessed 21 March 2018. 
[27] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P.  4.
[28] The Australian War Memorial, Honours and Awards (recommendation), John Alexander Speight, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1618541 , Accessed 18 March 2018.  
[29] The Australian War Memorial, Honours and Awards (recommendation), John Alexander Speight was also recommended for Distinguished Conduct Medal, he received a Military medal and Bar, British War Medal, and Victory Medal. 
[30] Commendation by Major General, Commanding 1st Australian Division. John Alexander Speight was also recommended for  Distinguished Conduct Medal.
[31] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P.  4.
[32] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P.  4.
[33] Gayle Speight, Speight and Palmer Family History, compiled booklet, Bundaberg 2001, p. 10),(source - Oral family history). 
[34] Gayle Speight, Speight and Palmer Family History, p. 10. 
[35] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 4.
[36] Norman K. Harvey, From Anzac to the Hindenburg Line: The History of the 9th Battalion, A.I.F., Uckfield and London, The Naval & Military Press Ltd and The Imperial War Museum, 1941, P. 219. 
[37] Australian War Memorial, John Alexander Speight, Honours and Awards.
[38] Commendation by Major-General, commanding 1st Australian Division. 
[39] William Westerman, Warfare 1914-1918 (Australia), International Encyclopedia of the First World War, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/warfare_1914-1918_australia, Accessed 31 January 2018. 
[40] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 8.
[41] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 8. 
[42] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 8.
[43] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, Service and Casualty Form.
[44] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 4.
[45] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 4.
[46] Discharge Certificate for John Alexander Speight, discharged 16 July 1919, Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force, copy in author’s possession, from the collection of the late Raymond Speight.  
[47] Discharge Certificate for John Alexander Speight, discharged 16 July 1919.  
[48] Speight to Speight, email, 25 April 2010.
[49] Leslie Speight to Gayle Speight, written Speight family history research papers, circa 2001, original held in author’s possession.
[50] Marriage Certificate of John Alexander Speight and Irene Palmer, married 5 January 1926, Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Queensland, B038866/3090. (birth name Irene Reimers)

 
[51] Speight to Speight, written Speight family history research papers, circa 2001. 
[52] Speight to Speight, written Speight family history research papers, circa 2001. 
[53] Raymond Speight to Gayle Speight, email 9 April 2012, original held in author’s possession. 
[54] Leslie Speight to Gayle Speight, written Speight family history research papers, circa 2001.
[55] Raymond Speight to Gayle Speight, email 1 October 1999, original held in author’s possession
[56] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, B884, Q54864, National Archives of Australia. (Second World War record)
[57] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 5, B884, National Archives of Australia. 
[58] Raymond Speight to Gayle Speight, email, 2 April 2010, original held in author’s possession. 
[59] International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Thomas I Faith, ‘Gas Warfare’.
[60] Leslie Speight to Gayle Speight, landline telephone conversation, 17 March 2019.
[61] Leslie Speight, interview by Gayle Speight, unrecorded, Bundaberg, November 2018.
[62] Death Certificate of John Alexander Speight, died 6 December 1960, Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Queensland, 005618/2699.
[63] Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW, Canberra, Australia, AIF Project, ‘John Alexander Speight’.

John Alexander Speight

After losing both his parents by the time he was 15 years of age, John Alexander Speight would have learnt early in life to be self- reliant. This would have helped him get through  what could be imagined to be some very challenging times in his life, one of those being service in World War One.

John was the third of four sons born to Joseph Speight from Yorkshire, England and Sarah Lynas from Ireland.  [1] He was born on 18 November, 1886 at Newry, Armagh, Ireland,  [2] His brothers were James Gilmer, Joseph and Ambrose Speight.

John has recorded Whitehaven, Cumberland, as place of birth on his Service War record  [3] possibly because that is where he lived as a small child with his father and brothers. They resided there following the death of John’s mother Sarah in Ireland  [4] when John was four years of age.

The census record of 1901 shows John and his older brothers working as ‘Yardman’ on a farm at Braham near Leeds, Yorkshire, when John was 14 years of age.[5] Father Joseph passed away a year later in Bramham, in 1902. [6]

John would now face the challenges of life in England as a young person without his parents, this may have lead him to making a decision to leave that country for another as a young adult. John’s war service record [7]claims he was in an apprenticeship at Kelbrook now part of Lancashire, probably as a carpenter, before he emigrated from England to Australia in 1911, this was to start work on the Railway construction of North Queensland.[8] 

John Alexander Speight enlisted in 1915, [9] in the Australian Imperial Force in World War One, while residing in Oolbun, via Townsville, Queensland. [10] John was one of 18% of men from Britain to enlist in Australia.[11] He may have considered it his duty, and also a chance to see his brothers again; John’s Nominal Roll record  [12]  indicates next of kin as his brother James Speight (James Gilmer Speight), residing in England.

John enlisted in Townsville on 11 October 1915 aged 26 years and 11 months; [13] John’s rank was Private and his Service no. 4889.  [14] He was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds. Chest 37.39½, Complexion Dark, Eyes Grey, Hair Dark Brown. [15]

Between October 1915 to March 1916, John was training to be a soldier most likely at Enoggera in Brisbane. [16] John was in the 15th Reinforcements;  [17] set to serve with the Queensland formed 9th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, in the 1st Division. [18] 

John left Australia’s shores in Brisbane, Queensland, on 28 March 1916, bound for Egypt, on board the ship the HMAT A73 Commonwealth  [19]

Private Speight and the other reinforcements continued training at Tel-el-Kabir training camp, roughly 40 km east of Ismailia, Egypt.  [20] Leave into Cairo was limited for those at the training camps;  [21] John’s son Les relates how his father explained that a crossed over shoe lace could disqualify the eager soldier from leave, but John managed to get special leave for immaculate dress while in Egypt. [22]

In  July 1916, John and  the 3rd training battalion, departed Egypt on the H.T. Arcadian, bound for Europe. In August 1916, they  arrived at the training Camp, Perham Downs, Salisbury, England, John remaining there until further training commenced in mid-October  at the large British army camp and training base at Etaples, France. [23]

After months of training, John was about to experience conditions on the Western Front. On 18 December 1916, Private Speight is ‘Taken on Strength’ into the 9th Battalion in Flers, France. [24]

For the next 27 months, John was on the Western Front with the 9th Battalion and also convalescing at various locations due to injury.

John would have experienced the trenches of the Western Front, full of mud and pests, they were often a horror for the soldiers, but also protection from the enemy. John’s son Les relates how his father learnt to keep his head low in the trenches to save his life. 

John’s role on the Western Front was that of   Stretcher-bearer – those who responded first to injuries. [25] It was among the most hazardous of jobs and there were significant losses in this role. [26]

On 20 September 1917, the 9th Battalion saw action as part of the Battle of Ypres,  that resulted in many casualties. Stretcher-bearer Private Speight survived the battle of the 20 September but was injured by shrapnel  [27] but he selflessly continued working. He was later awarded a Military Medal, and this commendation for his actions that day:  [28] [29]

'Near Hooge, France on 20 September, 1917, during the operations of Glencorse and Polygonvelde Woods,  Pte. Speight carried out the duties of Stretcher Bearer. He was wounded at the commencement of operations but nevertheless continued to carry out his duties, rendering First Aid to others under very heavy artillery fire. He carried out these duties for 24 hours when he was relieved owing to the wound rendering his arm useless. His splendid determination and devotion to duty under the most trying conditions are worthy of the highest praise.'

                                                              Major General, Commanding 1st Australian Division.  [30]                        

After shrapnel injury  [31] John was transferred to a Casualty Clearing Station, then hospital, Convalescent Depots, then a Rest Camp. [32]  John’s sons have relayed how their father was injured  [33] by an Anti-Personnel Grenade (Egg Grenade) which used to be thrown at soldiers as they utilised the latrines.  John had shrapnel in his leg for the rest of his life.  [34]

On 4 October 1917 Private Speight was ‘Marched in’ to Havre, France, before 18 October being at the Australian Divisional Base Depot, from where he was ‘Marched out’ to the  9th Battalion at Havre on 20 October.  [35]

John Speight was awarded a bar to the Military Medal and commendation for his bravery in what is described as ‘a minor operation’  [36]:  

‘In an operation against the enemy position near Strazeele on morning of 20th June, 1918, Pte. Speight as a Stretcher Bearer did fine work with Pte. Scrivener in clearing the wounded from the forward position under very heavy Machine Gun and Shell fire. By his coolness and devotion to duty he set a splendid example to his comrades.’  [37]

Awarded M.M. L.G. Supplement 30431 of 17/12/17

Major-General, Commanding 1st Australian division  [38]

 The Battle of Amiens began in August 1918  [39] resulting in many casualties in the 9th, including John Speight who was ‘Wounded in Action’ on 17 Aug 1918 resulting in transfer to a Casualty Clearing Station and an unidentified hospital.  [40] 

Due to disease and sickness, [41] Private Speight was invalided to the Reading War Hospital, England, on 7 September 1918. [42] After recovery, John appears to have returned to France to furlough for 14 days in October 1918 at No. 1 Convalescent Depot at Boulogne, France. John was then back in England at Sutton Veny in 1919. [43]

In March 1919, John’s service war records the abbreviation R.B.A.A. indicating  he may have been involved in the Reserve Brigade Australia Artillery.  [44] This appears to be his last service in World War 1 in Europe.

Private Speight returned to Australia per the ‘Warwickshire’ on 5 April 1919. [45]  disembarking on 28 May 1919. The war ended on 28 June 1919, and John was discharged from duty in Brisbane on 16 July 1919, having served in the Great War for three years and 280 days. [46]

John returned to Townsville, Queensland, [47] to resume work on the railways  [48] before moving to Brisbane becoming a Commercial Traveller working for tea merchants Edwards & Co. Ltd and later for Atcherley & Dawson, Tea, Coffee & Cocoa Merchants in 1924.  [49]

John married Irene Palmer [50] in Brisbane, Queensland, on 5 November 1926. After marriage, John's work with Atcherley & Dawson was based at Rockhampton, Central Queensland, and John would visit customers on their farms and in towns, in the Dawson and Callide valleys, and coastal strip to Bundaberg, Queensland. [51] Rockhampton became their home for the rest of their lives.  [52] John and Irene had a family of four children, John, Leslie, Raymond and Jean.

John was away from home a lot, so being very skilled in mechanical repairs was a great asset as he had to repair his own vehicle on many occasions on the road. He could strip down a car engine and the rest of the vehicle, and rebuild it again afterwards.[53] John was also skilled at repairing clocks and radios. [54]

John was always accompanied on his trips by the family dog and his family would sometimes accompany him on his trips in the school holidays and camp along the way. John was said to be a good cricketer [55] and joined in local matches on the trip.

John left his employment at age 55, to enlist in the Australian Military Forces (AMF) in World War Two on 4 March 1942. This was under the Citizen Military Forces (CMF), as part of the 15 Australian Garrison Battalion. [56] John was discharged on 23 August 1944, the reason for discharge – emphysema.  [57] The emphysema was claimed to be a result of exposure to gas during World War One. [58] The long-term health outcome of gas poisoning was an on-going controversial debate after the war. [59]

            John’s skills in First Aid remained with him, as Son Les tells the story of an aeroplane crashing and catching on fire in a council field near the Speight home in Rockhampton, during World War 2. John Speight rushed straight to the crash site that was in flames and was immediately at work cutting the clothes off the burnt and critically injured pilot, administering First Aid. This act as civilian correlates to John’s fearlessness as a Stretcher-bearer in the War, and the awards he won for his bravery in putting his own life in danger to save others tell this story.

           After discharge from the CMF in World War Two, John got work as a solderer with J.M. Smith Pty. Limited, tin ware manufacturers and sheet metal workers in Rockhampton. He later worked for Walter Reid & Co in Rockhampton, also as a Solderer, working with his son Les.  [60]

John would march in the Anzac Parade in Rockhampton, his children would join him at the ceremonies held throughout the day, yet like many other soldiers, John rarely spoke of the War, preferring to relay stories from his time of Leave in the war.  [61]

John passed away on 7 December 1960  [62] in Rockhampton after a life that included  brave war service in World War One, rescuing and assisting his comrades, serving in World War Two, work in his communities, being a husband, and helping to raise a family of four children. John continued to work in to his seventies despite the aftermath of the war on his health.

John has a plaque commemorating his war service, at the Queensland Garden of Remembrance, Pinnaroo, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.  [63]  He and wife Irene are buried together at the North Rockhampton Crematorium. 

Gayle Speight 2019

[1] Birth Certificate of John Alexander Speight, born 18 November 1886, Birth Certificate issued in pursuance of Births and Deaths Registration Acts 1863-1972, Dublin, Ireland, 452/58.
[2] Birth Certificate of John Alexander Speight, born 18 November 1886.
[3] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 1, B2455, National Archives of Australia.
[4] Death certificate of Sarah Speight, died 26 February, 1891, The General Register Office, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 054659/01.
[5] Ancestry, Census Record for John Speight, ‘1901 Census returns of England and Wales, Almshouse Hill, Bramham, Yorkshire’, Accessed 21 March 2009.
[6] Death Certificate of Joseph Speight, died 14 February, 1902, General Registry Office, England, UK, Registration District - Wetherby, Vol. 9A, page 90.
[7] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 1.

 
[8] Raymond Speight to Gayle Speight, email 25 April 2010, original held in author’s possession.
[9] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 2
[10] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 1
[11] Bill Gammage, The Broken Years: Australian Soldiers in the Great War, Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1974, p. 62.
[12] Australian Imperial Force-Nominal Roll, Speight, John Alexander, Australian War Memorial, p.  112.
[13] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 1.
[14] The Australian War Memorial, ‘First World War Nominal Roll for John Alexander Speight’, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2417846 , Accessed 4 February 2018.
[15] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 3.
[16] John Speight may have trained at Thompson’s Paddock, Training camp at Enoggera, Brisbane.
[17] Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW, Canberra, Australia, AIF Project, ‘John Alexander Speight’, https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=284052 , Accessed 7 February 2018.

 
[18] Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW, Canberra, Australia, AIF Project, ’Order of Battle’, https://aif.adfa.edu.au/OrderOfBattle/index.html, Accessed 23 March 2018.
[19] Australian Defence Force Academy, ‘John Alexander Speight’.
[20] Following the Twenty-Second: The First World War through the lives of an Australian Infantry Battalion, ‘Training Camps: Egypt’, https://anzac-22nd-battalion.com/training-camps-egypt/, Accessed 11 March 2018.
[21] 100 Years of Anzac for SA, ‘Great War Training Camps in Egypt’.
[22] Les Speight, Interview by Gayle Speight, digital recording, Bundaberg, 03 February 2018, in author’s possession.
[23] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P.  7.
[24] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P. 7.
[25] Leo Van Bergen, ‘Medicine and Medical Service’, International Encylopedia of the First World War (WW1), https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/medicine_and_medical_service,  Accessed 18 March 2018.
[26] Australian War Memorial, 1918: Australians in France-Unsung heroes – Australia’s medical personnel, https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/1918/medical, Accessed 21 March 2018.
[27] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P.  4.
[28] The Australian War Memorial, Honours and Awards (recommendation), John Alexander Speight, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1618541 , Accessed 18 March 2018. 
[29] The Australian War Memorial, Honours and Awards (recommendation), John Alexander Speight was also recommended for Distinguished Conduct Medal, he received a Military medal and Bar, British War Medal, and Victory Medal.
[30] Commendation by Major General, Commanding 1st Australian Division. John Alexander Speight was also recommended for  Distinguished Conduct Medal.
[31] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P.  4.
[32] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, P.  4.
[33] Gayle Speight, Speight and Palmer Family History, compiled booklet, Bundaberg 2001, p. 10),(source - Oral family history).
[34] Gayle Speight, Speight and Palmer Family History, p. 10.
[35] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 4.
[36] Norman K. Harvey, From Anzac to the Hindenburg Line: The History of the 9th Battalion, A.I.F., Uckfield and London, The Naval & Military Press Ltd and The Imperial War Museum, 1941, P. 219.
[37] Australian War Memorial, John Alexander Speight, Honours and Awards.
[38] Commendation by Major-General, commanding 1st Australian Division.
[39] William Westerman, Warfare 1914-1918 (Australia), International Encyclopedia of the First World War, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/warfare_1914-1918_australia, Accessed 31 January 2018.
[40] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 8.
[41] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 8.
[42] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 8.
[43] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, Service and Casualty Form.
[44] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 4.
[45] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 4.
[46] Discharge Certificate for John Alexander Speight, discharged 16 July 1919, Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force, copy in author’s possession, from the collection of the late Raymond Speight. 
[47] Discharge Certificate for John Alexander Speight, discharged 16 July 1919. 
[48] Speight to Speight, email, 25 April 2010.
[49] Leslie Speight to Gayle Speight, written Speight family history research papers, circa 2001, original held in author’s possession.
[50] Marriage Certificate of John Alexander Speight and Irene Palmer, married 5 January 1926, Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Queensland, B038866/3090. (birth name Irene Reimers)

 
[51] Speight to Speight, written Speight family history research papers, circa 2001.
[52] Speight to Speight, written Speight family history research papers, circa 2001.
[53] Raymond Speight to Gayle Speight, email 9 April 2012, original held in author’s possession.
[54] Leslie Speight to Gayle Speight, written Speight family history research papers, circa 2001.
[55] Raymond Speight to Gayle Speight, email 1 October 1999, original held in author’s possession
[56] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, B884, Q54864, National Archives of Australia. (Second World War record)
[57] Service Record of John Alexander Speight, p. 5, B884, National Archives of Australia.
[58] Raymond Speight to Gayle Speight, email, 2 April 2010, original held in author’s possession.
[59] International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Thomas I Faith, ‘Gas Warfare’.
[60] Leslie Speight to Gayle Speight, landline telephone conversation, 17 March 2019.
[61] Leslie Speight, interview by Gayle Speight, unrecorded, Bundaberg, November 2018.
[62] Death Certificate of John Alexander Speight, died 6 December 1960, Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Queensland, 005618/2699.
[63] Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW, Canberra, Australia, AIF Project, ‘John Alexander Speight’.