PORTEOUS, John Robert
| Service Number: | 1290 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 March 1915, Liverpool |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia, 9 January 1865 |
| Home Town: | Newcastle, Hunter Region, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Shell wounds, Bois Grenier, France, 23 May 1916, aged 51 years |
| Cemetery: |
Brewery Orchard Cemetery, Bois-Grenier Plot IV; Row C; Grave 2. |
| Memorials: | Wauchope Rawdon Island School and District Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1290, 20th Infantry Battalion, Liverpool | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 20th Infantry Battalion | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Sergeant, 1290, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Sergeant, 1290, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Sydney | |
| 22 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1290, 20th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 1 Oct 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion | |
| 18 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMT Ingoma, Alexandria for Marseilles - arriving 25 March 1916 | |
| 23 May 1916: | Involvement Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 20 Battalion awm_rank: Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1916-05-23 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
John Robert Patterson Porteous was actually 50 years old when he enlisted in March 1915. He stated his age as 43 years and 2 months.
One of nine children of Scotsman Archibald Porteous and his Lancashire born wife Isabella Fyfe, he married Ida Emily James (1868-1933) at Balmain in 1886. They had a son Archiball Conrad Fyfe Porteous (1896-1983) who enlisted in April 1917 and served as a Private ( 4218) with the 6th Battalion AIF.
As Sergeant JR Patterson, he landed at Gallipoli with the 20th Battalion in August 1915. Promoted to Second Lieutenant in October, he was amoungst the last to leave the peninsula during the evacuation in December.
Transferred with the 20th to the Western Front in March 1916, Lieutenant Patterson moved into the front line trenches at Bois Grenier on 14 April 1916. Over the next month the 20th was in and out of the front line trenches undertaking improvement works.
It was relatively quiet, with occassional enemy shelling. But during the afternoon of Sunday, 23 May 1915 the occassional enemy shelling caught up with John Patterson. He was mortally wounded when a shell exploded in the frontline trench.
He was taken from the trench by bearers of the 7th Field Ambulance but died before reaching the advanced dressing station.
Lieutenant JR Patterson was laid to rest at Brewery Orchard Cemetery, Bois-Grenier.
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