Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Frederick CULL and Elizabeth nee FERNLEY

John Cull was a dairyman living at Mount Gravatt. He was married to Alice Lillian Cull and they had four children; Leonard, Eileen, Alice and Henrietta. At the time of enlisting on 12th November 1917 (just after the defeat of the second conscription referendum) John was 38 years old. While John was overseas, his wife and children moved to Henry Street, Dunellan Estate (now Greenslopes).

John had three days home leave before boarding a troop train for Sydney and then embarking for overseas on 2nd March 1918. The “Ormonde” had a number of reinforcements for Egypt and the Western Front on board. When the ship arrived in Suez on 4th April, John was admitted into hospital with an anal fistula (abscess) which required surgery and treatment. He remained in hospital in Cairo and then was posted to the Australian Camp awaiting onward transport to England which he boarded in early July. On the 10th July, John was admitted to hospital at Faenza on the Italian Adriatic Coast with influenza. By the end of July, he had finally made it to England and was posted to the Australian Depot at Codford.

On 7th August 1918, John was admitted again to hospital with the determination N.Y.D. (Not Yet Diagnosed). John would move between hospital and convalescent depots in England for the next four months until it was determined he be returned to Australia in January 1919. John Cull was discharged as Medically Unfit on 3rd April 1919 in Brisbane; and for the first time appeared the notation – tuberculosis. TB at the time of the First World War was a virulent disease, and without the antibiotics of today difficult to treat. Even though the bacteria most commonly affect the lungs it can also be manifested in abscesses (see the fistula above). TB was common among people who worked with cattle; and John was a dairyman who probably hand milked fifty or so cows a day.

It is quite possible that John was suffering from TB before he enlisted. The fact that a 38 year old man in questionable health was accepted for enlistment demonstrates the desperate need to keep the reinforcements flowing to the front during 1917 and 1918. John Cull applied for repatriation benefits in 1931.

Member of the Native Rose Lodge, M.U.I.O.O.F.

John Thomas Harcourt Cull # 5254  31st Battalion
 
John Cull was a dairyman living at Mount Gravatt. He was married to Alice Lillian Cull and they had four children; Leonard, Eileen, Alice and Henrietta. At the time of enlisting on 12th November 1917 (just after the defeat of the second conscription referendum) John was 38 years old. While John was overseas, his wife and children moved to Henry Street, Dunellan Estate (now Greenslopes).
 
John had three days home leave before boarding a troop train for Sydney and then embarking for overseas on 2nd March 1918. The “Ormonde” had a number of reinforcements for Egypt and the Western Front on board. When the ship arrived in Suez on 4th April, John was admitted into hospital with an anal fistula (abscess) which required surgery and treatment. He remained in hospital in Cairo and then was posted to the Australian Camp awaiting onward transport to England which he boarded in early July. On the 10th July, John was admitted to hospital at Faenza on the Italian Adriatic Coast with influenza. By the end of July, he had finally made it to England and was posted to the Australian Depot at Codford.
 
On 7th August 1918, John was admitted again to hospital with the determination N.Y.D. (Not Yet Diagnosed). John would move between hospital and convalescent depots in England for the next four months until it was determined he be returned to Australia in January 1919. John Cull was discharged as Medically Unfit on 3rdApril 1919 in Brisbane; and for the first time appeared the notation – tuberculosis. TB at the time of the First World War was a virulent disease, and without the antibiotics of today difficult to treat. Even though the bacteria most commonly affect the lungs it can also be manifested in abscesses (see the fistula above). TB was common among people who worked with cattle; and John was a dairyman who probably hand milked fifty or so cows a day.
 
It is quite possible that John was suffering from TB before he enlisted. The fact that a 38 year old man in questionable health was accepted for enlistment demonstrates the desperate need to keep the reinforcements flowing to the front during 1917 and 1918. John Cull applied for repatriation benefits in 1931.

From Australian Remembrance Army

Private John Thomas Harcourt Cull (Service No. 5254), an Australian World War One veteran, is among almost 800 previously unmarked WWI veterans’ graves in Lutwyche Cemetery we have now honoured with a plaque recognising their service for Australia.

On 20 September 2025, his plaque was unveiled in Lutwyche Cemetery, along with a further 161 plaques on the previously unmarked graves of Australian World War One veterans:
See Australian Remembrance Army Facebook page

John Thomas Harcourt Cull was born on 31 October 1877 in Brisbane, to Frederick Cull and Elizabeth Fernley. On 17 January 1900, he married Lilian Alice Glover in Brisbane, and together they had five children. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in Brisbane on 12 November 1917, aged 38, giving his occupation as dairyman and naming his wife, Lilian, as his next of kin.

Private Cull embarked for active service on 2 March 1918 and disembarked at Suez on 4 April, where he was admitted to the Government Hospital with illness. After treatment, he was discharged to duty and taken on strength with the Miscellaneous Details, Australian Camp, Suez. In July he was transferred to Alexandria for embarkation overseas, but was left in hospital at Faenza after being disembarked from H.M.A.T. Port Darwin while en route to the United Kingdom.

Discharged from hospital on 12 July 1918 suffering from influenza, he was sent to a rest camp. Later that month he arrived at Southampton and marched into the 14th Training Battalion at Codford. Soon after, he was admitted to the Brigade Clearing Hospital and rejoined his unit a week later.

In October 1918 he was admitted to the Military Hospital at Fovant with illness, rejoining the 14th Training Battalion after treatment. His health deteriorated again in November, and he was admitted to the Group Clearing Hospital.

On 5 January 1919 he marched into the No. 2 Command Depot, Weymouth, and embarked for return to Australia aboard the hospital ship HMHS Kanowna. Private John Thomas Harcourt Cull was discharged from the A.I.F. on 3 April 1919 as medically unfit due to tuberculosis of the chest and larynx.

Following his return to Australia, John lived in Brisbane and is recorded as working as a dairyman.

Private John Thomas Harcourt Cull died on 19 November 1931, aged 54, and was buried in Monumental Portion GP1. His daughter, Henrietta Edith Larter, died in May 1936 aged 25, and was buried with her father. His wife, Lilian, died in June 1939 and is in an unmarked grave beside John.

After decades without recognition at his place of burial, his grave now bears a plaque commemorating his service to Australia — ensuring his name endures among those remembered for their duty and sacrifice. His identity and dignity have now been restored.

We have remembered him.
Lest We Forget.