John Reginald ('Skeet') MULLINS

MULLINS, John Reginald

Service Number: 1875
Enlisted: 18 January 1916
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 50th Infantry Battalion
Born: East Adelaide, South Australia, 3 September 1891
Home Town: Unley, Unley, South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Clerk
Died: Killed in Action, Noreuil, Picardie, France, 2 April 1917, aged 25 years
Cemetery: Noreuil Australian Cemetery, Picardie
Special Memorial Row B, Grave No. 29
Memorials: Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Unley Arch of Remembrance, Unley Town Hall WW1 Honour Board
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World War 1 Service

18 Jan 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1875, 50th Infantry Battalion
13 Jul 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1875, 50th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Bee embarkation_ship_number: A48 public_note: ''
20 Mar 1917: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1875, 50th Infantry Battalion, The Outpost Villages - German Withdrawal to Hindenburg Line
2 Apr 1917: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1875, 50th Infantry Battalion, Noreuil, Killed in Action AWM WW1 Roll Of Honour: imported - 9 Jun 2022, Roll: Roll of Honour, CONFLICT: First World War, 1914-1918, NAME: Mullins, John Reginald, SERVICE: Australian Imperial Force, SERVICE_NUMBER: 1875, UNIT: 50th Australian Infantry Battalion, RANK: Private, DATE_OF_DEATH: 2/4/1917, CAUSE_OF_DEATH: Killed in action, PLACE_OF_DEATH: France, AGE_AT_DEATH: 24, CEMETERY_MEMORIAL: Noreuil Australian Cemetery, Picardie, France, PLACE_OF_ASSOCIATION: Unley, South Australia, Australia, ALIAS: , PANEL NUMBER: 151

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Biography contributed by Steve Larkins

Reginald John MULLINS (1893-1917)

The son of Michael and Mary MULLINS, of 26 Hughes Street, North Unley, South Australia.

Attended Christian Brothers (Catholic) College, Adelaide, South Australia. 

He was well known as a good all round athlete, a popular member of the Sturt Ramblers Football Club and Anchor Cricket Club (from Roll of Honour circular).  His nickname in the unit was 'Skeet'.

He was killed trying in the course of Major Harry Seager's B Company advance towards the Objective Road. He was 'riddled with machine gun bulletstrying to rescue wounded comrades'. (1)

He was buried in the Noreuil Cemetery, but his grave was dusrupted by shelling in the German Spring Offensive 12 months later along with those of 80 of his colleagues; their graves were subsequently lost so they are commemorated with 'Special Memorials' in the Noreuil Cemetery.

 

 

Source:  Faulkner, A. 'Guts Glory and Blunder - Noreuil 1917; The Forgotten Fight' 2024 Big Sky Publications ISBN 

(1) ibid p 

  

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