Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Carroll 9th Light Horse

Name at Birth: Albert Harrison,
Born: May, 1888 at Fitzroy, Victoria.
Mother: Mary Harrison.

Adopted or given to as a child to George and Elizabeth Ellen Carroll of Beryl Street, North Broken Hill formerly of Ballarat. Brought up and resided in the Broken Hill area working mainly in the bush as a stockman, also fought as a boxer under the name Jerry Carroll. At the outbreak of World War 1 he enlisted at Oaklands, Adelaide on the 3rd December, 1914 with the 9th Australian Light Horse regiment, service number 646. At that time he was described as being 5ft 8 inches tall, weighing 132lbs, chest measurement of 35 inches of fair complexion with brown hair and brown eyes. A labourer, 26 and 7 months old, his mother as next of kin, of the Roman Catholic religion. convoy at Perth) embarked aboard their respective ships on the 11 February, 1915.

Training took place and horses issued at Morphettville in SA and soon after moved to Broadmeadows in Melbourne. The 9th Light Horse Regiment was one of the three regiments (the 8th & 10th regiments) that formed the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. A total of 500 men and 402 horses with the 9th light Horse embarked aboard His Majesties Transport A10 ‘Karoo’ and set sail for Port Suez, via Colombo. John Carroll was a member of B Squadron under Major Harry Parsons. While on route the troops were involved in various classes of instruction including weapons and tactics. They also were involving themselves in various sporting activities including boxing. Trooper Carroll won the regiment boxing competition. At Colombo only officers and warrant officers were allowed ashore, the ‘Karoo’ arrived at Suez on 13 March, 1915. The troopers, their stores and horses travelled by train to Cairo, there their baggage and stores were taken by tram while the men led their horses to Mena Camp situated in the desert in the shadows of the Pyramids. Camp was laid out and training commenced along with the settling of the horses, it took three weeks before they could be ridden again.

On 8.4.15 Trooper Carroll was charged with:

1. Disobeying orders.
2. Breaking camp and going into Cairo without leave. He was awarded 21days Detention.

At about this time the infantry brigades moved out of the camp without explanation leaving the light horse feeling a little left out. Shortly afterwards the regiment moved to the racecourse at Heliopolis where training resumed. The troops were allowed leave into Cairo where they took advantage of the available wares. News was received on the 26th April, 1915 of the landings by the Anzac forces at Gallipoli. A few days after the landings the Light Horse troops were asked if they would leave their horses and fight at Gallipoli as infantry, they all volunteered. At this time trench and wire entanglement training commenced. On the 9th May, 1915 the machine gun sections of the regiment proceeded to Gallipoli and on the 16th May the remainder of the Regiment, some 475 men set sail for Gallipoli.

Records indicate that Trooper John Carroll was not part of this movement as he had contracted Venereal Disease, most likely while absent from duty the previous month. It was policy at that time in the Australian military forces that if a soldier placed himself in the position where he contracted a sexually transmitted disease, he would not be allowed the honour of joining his mates in battle. Records indicate that Trooper Carroll and a few others of the regiment were embarked aboard the ship ‘Ceramic’ on the 26.5.15 and sent home to Australia. (This section of the military records was not present when I first received them, I queried the missing section covering the Gallipoli period and subsequently received the missing records, obviously held back to save embarrassment to the soldiers family.)

The story does not end there. Records indicate that Trooper Carroll was returned to Egypt and the 9th Light Horse Regiment aboard the ‘Mongolia’ leaving Australia on the 13/7/16 and arriving in Egypt on the 12/8/16. He was in the company of three other 9th Light horse men, Troopers Harold Bishop, aged 20, Frederick Day aged 34 & Donald Lennard aged 23. All four were recorded on the ships manifest as being former members of the 9th Light horse in Egypt and returning to their units. On that same ship there were others from the 7th Light Horse with similar notations. It can be assumed that they were the same group sent home aboard the ‘Ceramic’ the year before and were needed to make up for the heavy losses of Gallipolli. As the losses were heavy at Gallipolli for the light horse, it may have been a lucky break for the infected troopers. John Carroll took ill shortly after arriving in Egypt spending several months in hospital, suffering V.D G, possibly Venereal Disease Gonnareah. Discharged from hospital and rejoined 9 LHR in Sinai soon after took ill with Rheumatism and Myalgia.

On 29.8.17 charged with disobedience of standing order, that he ate his iron ration without instruction, fined 1 days pay. (Iron ration was a can of bully beef) At that same time was also fined 4 days pay and forfeit of 2 days R.W for been absent without leave for a period of 20 hours, a total of 6 days pay, 1 pound 10 shillings.

During this period there were numerous running and set battles against the Turkish Army, well supported technically by the Germans with huge loss of life from both sides. A stalemate existed whereby the Turks held a strengthened line from Gaza to Beersheba. The Australian mounted divisions along with the 9LH regiment took the one-way trip across the desert to Beersheba. The English General, Allemby planned an attack on Beersheba in an effort to capture its wells and break the fortified line held by the enemy forces. The trip was one whereby the time they arrived at Beersheba the forces water was exhausted and most men and horses had been without for a whole day and some two days. The troopers and animals would not survive a three-day return trip to their bases without water.

The various battles to capture Beersheba took place throughout that day, 30th October, 1917 without success. At 5.30pm that afternoon C Squadron of the 9th Light Horse were bombed by an enemy aircraft. They suffered 13 killed, 20 wounded troopers and 32 killed and 26 wounded horses. Trooper Carroll was during this period with B Squadron in the 9th Light horse or at that time seconded to the 3rd Brigade Scouts under his good friend Sgt Harry Runn. A half an hour later, General Allemby decided that a charge upon the Turkish redoubts and trenches was their only hope. The English Cavalry equipped with sabres and lances wanted the honour, but Allemby decided that the Australian mounted riflemen would have first go, the 4th and the 12th Light Horse Regiments were chosen for the task. The Australians lined up and charged the entrenched cannon and machine guns on horseback, they held their bayonets forward as you would a sabre and screamed war cries. Possibly thinking they were going to suffer the same fate as their comrades of the 8th and 10th light horse were massacred nearly to a man in the charge of the ‘Nek’ at Gallipoli. However, this was to be different, the Turks and the German machine gunners could not keep up with the speed of the onslaught. They were accustomed to the Australians rushing forward on horseback, dismounting about a mile from the trenches and carrying out the remainder of the attack on foot. The defending troops didn’t adjust the range sights on their weapons and the bulk of their fire passed over the heads of the attacking Australians. The frenzied Australians either dived straight into the trenches with their bayonets and tore up the Turks or rode straight through the trench systems and captured the town and wells intact, the wells had been wired with explosives but not detonated.

The Australians suffered a low 40 troopers killed considering the task, but the Turks suffered many more and thousands captured. Trooper Carroll and the 9th LH were a part of the blocking force to cut of any retreat. The Gaza-Beersheba line was finally beaten after continuous action in the hills over the next 9 weeks, after which the Australian Mounted divisions were rested at Belah on the coast. General Allemby who was most impressed with the charge by the Australians at Beersheba had all mounted Australian troopers issued with sabres.

The ninth light horse up until this time had lost 8 officers and 99 other ranks killed at Gallipoli and a further 4 officers and 45 other ranks killed in Sinai. That being a total loss of just under a third of their number killed in action since the start of the war. The killed and wounded were being replaced constantly maintaining a number of around 400 to 475 at any given time.

At Belah various competitions between the various brigades were held, comprising of races, dressage, mounted wrestling, mounted tug of war, mounted bayonets (separate officers competition s to those of other ranks) and shooting. The 3rd Brigade was the outright winner. Refreshments were provided for the thousands of spectators and competitors, for the other ranks it was mainly tea and for the officers liquor, wine, cheeses ECT.
It was at this time the Brigades officers and their guests were beneath their marque enjoying a cheese and wine tasting affair. The troopers however had to be content with tea, bully beef and hard biscuits. The water they drank was from bores and sickness due to the diet was endemic. They did however manage to purchase some fruits and greens from locals, but did so from their own pocket. The tete de tete enjoyed by the officers more than likely enraged some of the troopers, especially somebody as headstrong as Trooper Carroll. As the story is told, he mounted his horse, armed himself with the new sabre and rode at speed around the Marque slashing at the guy ropes, dropping the canvas upon the elite of the Division. As it was the officers were shrouded and unable to identify the culprit.

Trooper Carroll did however get himself into bother, he was charged with a couple of offences. That he, when on active service:

1. Failed to return to camp with the organised party from the 4th Mounted Brigade Races.
2. He stole a saddle the property of Captain Beach of the 5th Mounted Brigade. For these offences he was awarded 28 days detention and 28 days loss of pay. (It was probably Beaches horse and sword used)

That sentence was carried out at Moascar from 20.3.18 to 31.4.18. The longer period may have been due to some infraction while in custody. Trooper Carroll was returned to his unit and took part in the liberation of Jerusalem. At this time General Allemby issued standing orders to all troops that due to the fact that Jerusalem was a holy city no liquor was to be consumed within it’s limits.

On 29.6.18 Trooper Carroll was charged, that while on active service he was found to be drunk in Jerusalem, he was awarded 14 days detention and 14 days loss of pay. It is unclear when that sentence was carried out, but Trooper Carroll became ill and spent some time in various hospitals suffering from pleurisy, a disease affecting the lungs.

At the time of his return to duty with the 9th Light Horse, Trooper Carroll was now carrying out the duties as a stretcher bearer, that is he moved with the attacking troops and collected any wounded and returned them to a safe location where they in turn were removed by the transport corps to an aid station and later a hospital. The light horse worked in sections of four troopers, they shared and did everything together, and they were inseparable. They especially looked after each other in sickness and battle and in the circumstances in which these men lived and fought they relied very heavily on their mates. I believe that at this time Trooper Carroll was not the most popular man with the trumps in his Squadron, or in the Regiment for that matter. I do not believe that he took much from the officers who were well fed, very well dressed and some treated the troopers as inferior and second class. The troopers were dressed in rags and survived on the most basic of rations and hygiene. Illness amongst their number was rife. During the war the 9th light horse regiment suffered a total of 40 deaths due to illness, none of these was an officer.

During July and August, 1918 the 9th Light Horse were involved in various battles with the Turks in the Jordan Valley with the Es Salt raid, action at Ludd and then what is termed the ‘big ride’ where the Australian mounted divisions routed the Turks and Germans chasing them to Syria. On the 29th of September, 1918, B Squadron of the 9th Light Horse Regiment were in a position south west of Sasa (Now in Syria) Late that afternoon B Squadron engaged the Turks and Germans who were in position astride the road some 2 and a half miles south east of Sasa. The scouting patrol of Australians was allowed by the Turks to pass through, they were subsequently cut down and captured after a short fight. Those captured, Sgt King, Cpl Betteridge, Cpl Down, L-Cpl Clark, L-Cpl Hanrahan, Trooper O’Donnell and Cpl Adams were taken, the only men from the regiment captured during the war. The terrain was one of a chain of small hills, almost solid rock and covered with huge boulders. The position that the Turks held gave them an open field of fire of a little over a mile. It was later found that the enemy consisted of 300 German machine gunners and 1200 Turkish infantry, with four field guns.
At the location where the Australians came under fire at least one trooper was still under the guns of the Turks. Trooper McCann was lying pinned beneath his dead horse. Trooper Carroll a stretcher-bearer was later awarded the Military Medal, the only higher award being the Victoria Cross.

The recommendation for the MM award was:

"For most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty under fire near Nukar Sasa on the 29.9.18 when his squadron was reconnoitring the enemy’s position. Trooper McCann had his horse killed, which fell on him and pinned him to the ground. Trooper Carroll galloped forward under heavy machine gun fire and freed Trooper McCann and carried him to a place of safety."

Records indicate that a trooper Mann No 899 of the 9th light horse died of wounds that day.

Harry Runn many years later said that if Trooper Carroll had enjoyed a better relationship with the trumps, his award would have more likely been the Victoria Cross.

The troopers of the light horse again forced the Turks from these positions the following day and in the days following they used their swords in a number of charges to route and capture large numbers of enemy troops. The regiment continued until they came to Adana gorge, they overlooked the village of Dumar where large numbers of Turks were using the gorge in an attempt to flee. At this point the Barada River, Damascus to Beirut Railway and road run together at the base of the escarpments. The regiment brought them under accurate fire preventing their escape and resulting in around enemy700 killed.

The following morning the regiment moved through the entangled mess of the ambush, the medical teams took care of the hundreds of German and Turkish wounded and clear away the hundreds of dead soldiers, animals and vehicles. Another 1,000 prisoners were also collected. The 9th Light Horse were the first Allied troops to enter Jerusalem, they rode through the streets of cheering locals who had suffered occupation for a number of years. The troopers received gifts of food, fruit and cigarettes. The regiment rode straight through the city pursuing the enemy and seeking their men who had been taken prison a few days earlier, they were all located intact. It is believed that the glory of capturing the city of Damascus was to be held for the Arab Armies under Lawrence of Arabia. The Australians however were not in a mind to wait and proceeded with what they were doing and Lawrence and his Arabs arrived in Damascus a day later to liberate the city, again.

The book ‘The Great Ride’ by Henry Bostock relates Bostocks experiences with the 3rd Brigades Scouts, within are photographs and several excerpts relating to Harry RUDD, there is also a mention of Jack Carroll, John was known to many as John, Jack and Jerry Carroll. More than likely one and the same.

On the 12.10.18 Trooper Carroll was again taken to hospital and returned to Egypt where he convalesced and found to be unfit for further duty, he was embarked aboard His Majesties Transport ‘Aeneas’ on the 1.1.19 bound for Australia arriving on 13.2.19 and discharged from the Army on 16.4.19. John Carroll served 4 years and 164 days. 4 years and 3 days spent overseas.

Olive Greenhill was born in 1898 at Broken Hill to Charles and Elizabeth Greenhill and in 1915 as a 17-year-old girl was aboard a picnic train travelling from Broken hill to Silverton. This picnic train carried locals in open ore trucks. The train came under rifle fire from two Turks on a hillside, 3 locals were killed and a number wounded. A number of local men, Militia and police hunted the Turks down and they were subsequently killed.

John Carroll met and married Olive Greenhill at Broken Hill after the war and they lived at 243 Hebbard Street, South Broken Hill, the home of Olives parents. Here they had 3 sons and 4 daughters, Jack, Ronald, George, Valda, Jean Iris and Jean. At one stage early in the marriage the family travelled to Melbourne and met Johns natural mother and siblings.

When Ron was of age he went to work on the property Pincally Station in the west of NSW under Harry Runn, Harry was Johns Sergeant in the 9th Light Horse. Harry told Ron of the many escapades involving his father during the war; some of those stories are contained herein. Harry Runn told of two wounds received by John, a bayonet wound to the stomach and a bullet wound to the leg. These scars were evident to Ron and his siblings borne by their father, although these are not mentioned in his service record. John Carroll did not himself relate any of his experiences to his wife or children and most of those experiences passed on with him when he died at Broken Hill, on the 18th December, 1938 after spending many years in the repatriation Hospital at Concord.

Trevor Carroll (grandson)
Terrigal NSW