Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Carl Herman Modistach (otherwise known as Johann Carl Hermann Modistach) was born on 7 December 1886 in Tanunda, to Mr Johann Carl Wilhelm Modistach and Mrs Dorothea Pauline Modistach (nee Zeppel.) He was the second child of the union, with him having three siblings - Johanna Mathilde Emilie Modistach (1), Johann Carl Alfred Modistach (3), Auguste Helene Alma Modistach (4.) It would therefore appear that both Johann Carl Hermann Modistach and his younger brother Johann Carl Alfred Modistach only had a middle name’s difference between them.

Upon enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) in Adelaide on the 2 June 1917 he declared he was single and working as a labourer. He was 30 years old at the time. He stated that his job was as a labourer and he was living in Angaston, with his mother (Pauline) listed as his next of kin and living at Light Pass. He also stated that his religion was Congregational and he had had no other military experience either through cadets or the Citizens Military Force (C.M.F.)

Of fair complexion he had blue eyes, brown hair, was a touch under 170 centimetres tall (5 feet, 6.75 inches) and weighted just over 63 kilograms (140 pounds.)

From 18 June 1917 he was allocated to ‘B’ Company at Mitcham Camp in Adelaide with the rank of private. He stayed with this company until 16 July 1917 when he was transferred to ‘C’ Company and on the same day transferred again to the 10^th Reinforcements of the 50^th Battalion.

He briefly continued to undergo training at Mitcham Camp before entraining at Adelaide on 2 August 1917. The train took him along with the rest of the 10^th Reinforcements to Melbourne where he embarked on HMAT Themistocles (A32) on 4 August 1917. Two months later, on 2 October 1917 the vessel landed at Glasgow and the Reinforcements disembarked before entraining bound for Salisbury Plains in Southern England. John Modistach officially started training with the 13^th Training Battalion at Codford on 8 October 1917. He spent the rest of the year been introduced to Trench Warfare.

Finally, John embarked at Southampton on 16 January 1918 bound for France and once in France on 17 January he officially joined the 50^th Battalion nine days later. At the time the 50^th Battalion was been rotated throughout the front and support line in the Ypres sector on the Western Front.

On 11 March 1918, however, John Modistach was taken to hospital sick. Two days later he was diagnosed as having Pyrexia of Unknown Origin (P.U.O.) or a high fever before been transferred to the 11^th Causality Clearing Station where they were officially diagnosed with Trench Fever. Trench Fever was a fever that onset rapidly and was characterised by a high fever, severe headaches, pain when moving eyeballs, soreness in the muscles of the legs and the back and frequent hypersensitivity in the shin region [wikipedia.] Trench Fever was transmitted by body lice and during World War One was a very large problem on the Western Front. Unfortunately, John Modistach was struck down with this fever and ultimately because of it would (to some extent very luckily) miss out on much of the fighting that the 50^th Battalion participated in in 1918.

On 17 March 1918 he was evacuated further back through the evacuation chain and was finally admitted to the 7^th Canadian General Hospital at Etaples, on the French coast. On 25 March 1918 he was admitted to the Royal Pavilion General Hospital in Brighton. A former Royal Resistance in Brighton the Royal Pavilion was converted to a general hospital during World War One and was originally used by Indian troops  and later British and Allied troops [wikipedia.] Modistach’s stay in the hospital was just under three months.

In the three months that Modistach was in the Royal Pavilion General Hospital, the 50^th Battalion had been used to stop the Germans during their 1918 Spring Offensive. Originally used as a reserve Battalion during the German attack on Dernancourt the 50^th Battalion played an important role in the recapture of the town of Villers-Bretonneux on the eve of ANZAC Day 1918. At Villers-Bretonneux, however, the battalion suffered 250 causalities, with 63 killed and 176 wounded.

As for Private John Modistach, however, he was transferred to Oxford on 3 June 1918 and admitted to the 3^rd Auxiliary Hospital. Two days later he was transferred to the 3^rd Convalescent Depot and on 29 June 1918 was transferred to the 4^th Convalescent Depot. His stay at the convalescent depot lasted two months and on 29 August 1918 he embarked for France.

By this time the Great Allied advance, which had begun on 8 August 1918 was in full swing and soon by October most A.I.F. units would be withdrawn from active service.     

Once in France John Modistach proceeded to the Australian Infantry Base Depot and finally on 11 September 1918 he re-joined the 50^th Battalion. By this time Private Modistach had been away exactly six months.

On 11 November the guns fell silent and the war was over, however, for John Modistach a late enlistee his service would last for another seven months. He returned to Australia via ‘City of Exeter’ and disembarked in Australia on 21 July 1919 before been marched to Keswick Barracks and discharged from the A.I.F. John Modistach’s war was officially over.

John Modistach thus appears to have been one of the many AIF soldiers effected badly by disease during World War One and his story highlights this.

He died on 14 June 1965, aged 78 years old. 

Awarded:

British War Medal: 20983

Victory Medal: 20470

Submitted by Nathan Rohrlah on behalf of Mr Neville Jaeschke (great nephew to John Modistach.)