Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Berchmans Lynch was a 30-year-old Australian man when he entered the war. He joined the Australian Imperial force on the 19th of April 1915. Lynch was born on the 10th of November 1883 in Mount Gambier. Lynch was a machinist before he enlisted. He was a natural born British subject and was a Roman Catholic. Lynch lived on Queen Street in Norwood and his service number was 2630. Lynch was a widower with two children and his mother’s name was Emily. Caroline Metina Lynch was his first wife and she passed away before the war. Doreen Edna Lynch and Evelyn Emily Lynch were the children of Caroline Metina Lynch and John Berchmans Lynch.
Lynch enlisted at Keswick, South Australia. At the time of his enlistment, Lynch’s height was 167cm, and he weighed 64 kilograms, had a chest measurement of 89.83cm, had a fair complexion, had grey eyes, brown hair and was a Roman Catholic. He joined the 10th Australian Infantry battalion the 17th of September 1915 and embarked on a ship called HMAT A61 Kanowna on the 23 June 1915. He then transferred to Anzac police in France on the 3rd of April 1916 and then proceeded overseas on the “Oriana” from Alexandria on the 6th of June 1916. On the 16th of June 1916, He taken on strength of Anzac provost Police Corps in France. He stayed in France for over a year as he was doing duty at the 1st Anzac Field punishment compound in France on the 2nd of December 1917. At the end of the war, he was located and discharged in London, England.

During the war, Lynch got sick multiple times and was admitted to different hospitals. Lynch had Jaundice that lasted from the 6th of December 1915 to the 26th of January 1916. He was reported as sick on the 4th of December 1915 which would’ve been his Jaundice two days after. During his sicknesses, Lynch was admitted to St Anthonys Hospital in Malta, and another hospital in Soudan. He received a total of 97 days under treatment during the war. Lynch did not get injured or wounded at all during the war and only got sick. Throughout Lynch’s service, he was promoted several times. Lynch was a private first on the 19th of April 1915. He was then promoted to Lance Corporal on the 18th of May 1915. Lynch then joined a new battalion in France and was appointed to Lance Corporal on the 1st of August 1916. Lynch was then promoted to Corporal on the 1st of January 1917. He was then promoted to Sergeant only a couple months later the 1st of June the same year.

Lynch had served a total of 4 years and 258 days and was discharged on the 6th of December 1919. Lynch was discharged due to demobilisation which means that there is no more work for him to complete. When he was discharged, Lynch was 34 years old, had medium, had fair hair and a vaccination mark on his right arm. Lynch received 3 blue stripes, a British War Medal, a Victory Medal and a Star Medal. He was commemorated on two different memorials which were the, “Gawler Men Who Answered the call WW1 Roll of Honour,” and, “The Gawler May Bros & Co. Limited WW1 Roll of Honour.” During the war, He remarried to a woman called Gertrude Charlotte Steadman. The date of their marriage was on the 1st of October 1918. At the time of their marriage, Lynch’s address was 51 Werwick Street, Pimlico while Steadman lived at 6 Market place, Warminster Wilts. Steadman was 18 years old, a spinster and a Tobacconist. At the time of their marriage, Lynch’s father, James Lynch was deceased while Steadman’s father was a Tobacconist and lived with her. Their marriage was held at a Roman Catholic Cathedral [CV2] would be consistent with Lynch’s enlistment papers as he stated he was a Roman Catholic.

In 1926 one of John Berchmans Lynch’s children died. Doreen Edna Lynch passed away at the age of 15. In a newspaper article published on the 31st of July 1926, it states that Edna Lynch had visited her friends the previous night and returned home and claimed that she was ill-treated. She had died in the Adelaide Hospital after succumbing to effects of Lysol. On another newspaper, it states that she was a victim of strychnine poisoning. It says that she lived in the Waterfall Gully hotel with Mrs Hunnerup who was her grandmother.