14996
GARIE, John Albert
| Service Number: | 3697 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Norwood, Adelaide, South Australia, 20 April 1898 |
| Home Town: | Norwood (SA), South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Electrical Engineer |
| Died: | Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, 21 July 1953, aged 55 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Norwood Primary School Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 3697, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: RMS Malwa embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 3697, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), RMS Malwa, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Sergeant, 3697, 48th Infantry Battalion | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 3697, 48th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour John Albert Garie's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Ciccocioppo Beth Eloise Braes
John Albert Garie was born in Norwood in Adelaide in May 1897 to Clara Stolte and James Garie. John was only 4 years old when his father died on the 24 July 1902. He lived with his mother, Clara Stolte Garie, and his two older brothers, James Otto Garie and George August 'Spot' Garie in Kensington, South Australia. He worked as a labourer before he went to war. He was single and had no children.
John Albert Garie was 5 foot 8 and weighed 84 kilograms. He had brown eyes, brown hair and a very fresh completion.
On the 18th of August 1915 John Garie enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in Adelaide. He was 18 years and 4 months old when he enlisted. It appears he did some training in Australia before being deployed to Egypt where he was transferred to the 48th Battalion and undertook further training in Egypt.
His first role in the army was a private, and some records e.g. Red Cross have his rank as ‘drummer’. A Private was just a basic army rank. Drummers were sometimes used as runners or stretcher bearers. By the time of the First World War, the role of ‘Drummers’ or ‘Drummer Boys’, which was to beat the drum at a certain pace for the army going into battle, were no longer required. Hence ‘drummer’ just became another term for private. During the war, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
The Battle of Pozieres on the Western Front was the first major battle John Garie fought in with the 48th Battalion. There were two major battles in August 1916 and in one of these the battalion experienced a severe barrage and suffered almost 600 casualties.
For the average infantryman, the weapons were typically a rifle with bayonet and a hand grenade. The infantry soldiers carried Enfield Revolvers (.476 calibre), Webley Revolvers (.455 calibre), Lee-Enfield rifles (.303 calibre) and “Jam Tin” grenades.
During his time at war, an offence was recorded on the 26th of June 1917 due to neglecting to obey routine orders. He was reprimanded for this by Lieutenant Colonel Davies.
John Garie suffered from several different illnesses and injuries while at war. He was first admitted to hospital in Rouen, France on the 19th of August 1916 with contusions (bruising) to his foot. Then on the 7th of August 1917 he was admitted to hospital in Liverpool, England with boils and a high temperature. Some months later, on the 17th of January 1918, he was admitted to Harefield in England with chronic otitis media in his left ear. He was again admitted to the same hospital suffering from chronic otitis media on the 21st of February. On 16th of March he was recorded as going to the Wallssey Town Hall Military Hospital in Weymouth complaining of an unknown sickness. After spending over a month in various hospitals with his ear condition he was discharged from the army as he was considered medically unfit on the 22nd of July 1918.
John Albert Garie was awarded three medals for his part in the war: a STAR medal, a British War Medal and a Victory Medal. The STAR Medal was awarded to men who signed up and served in the war between 1914 and 1915. The British War Medal was awarded to all the men who served in the British Army and finally the Victory Medal was given to all men who served in the winning side (Britain’s side).
He died when he was 55 years old on the 21 July 1953 in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
Bibliography
Ancestry™ | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records. 2017. Ancestry™ | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ancestry.com.au. [Accessed 21 March 2017].
RSL Virtual War Memorial | Australian Soldiers, Memorials and Military History. 2017. RSL Virtual War Memorial | Australian Soldiers, Memorials and Military History. [ONLINE] Available at: https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au. [Accessed 21 March 2017].
Australian War Memorial. 2017. Australian War Memorial. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/awm4/. [Accessed 21 March 2017].
Session expired | RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia . 2017. Session expired | RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia . [ONLINE] Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx. [Accessed 21 March 2017].
Australian War Memorial. 2017. Australian War Memorial. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51488/. [Accessed 21 March 2017].
John Albert Garie | South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau. 2017. John Albert Garie | South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau. [ONLINE] Available at: https://sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/soldier/john-albert-garie. [Accessed 21 March 2017].
Clara Garie | South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau. 2017. Clara Garie | South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau. [ONLINE] Available at: https://sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/enquirer/clara-garie. [Accessed 21 March 2017].
Flickr. 2017. Flickr. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaynich/16704350329. [Accessed 21 March 2017].
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