JAMES, John William
| Service Number: | 2430 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 56th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia, 1889 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Permanent Way Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 19 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Braidwood War Memorial, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 2430, 56th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 2430, 56th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Sydney | |
| 19 Mar 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2430, 56th Infantry Battalion, Re-joined his unit at the end of the month. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
John William JAMES (Service Number 2430) was born at Bungendore in 1889. He was employed by the Permanent Way Branch of the NSW Government Railways.
He enlisted in the AIF at Goulburn in March 1916. He embarked from Sydney in September 1916. He landed in England in November. He was sent to France in January 1917, and was ‘taken on strength’ by the 56th Battalion ‘in the field’ in February. On 19th March 1917 he was wounded in action but re-joined his unit at the end of the month. Three weeks later, in April, he was sent to a casualty clearing station suffering from tonsillitis. He spent three weeks there before being ‘discharged to duty’ in mid-May. He re-joined his battalion on 9th July 1917.
On 19th October 1917 he was killed in action. He has no known place of burial but is remembered with honour on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial.
His estate passed, in accordance with his will, to his niece, Miss Alice Hamilton. His service medals (the distribution of which was not governed by the provisions of any will but which should have gone to blood relations) could not be distributed because no blood relations could be traced. A brother, Thomas, who had been nominated as next of kin, could not be contacted.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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