S5222
DALZELL, John Nicholson
| Service Number: | 938 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Seacombe, England, 1890 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | 16 September 1981, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Saddleworth Institute Roll of Honor WW1, Saddleworth War Memorial, South Australian Garden of Remembrance |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 938, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Botanist embarkation_ship_number: A59 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 938, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Botanist, Adelaide | |
| 2 Nov 1917: | Involvement Private, 938, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Commonwealth embarkation_ship_number: A73 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1917: | Embarked Private, 938, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Commonwealth, Melbourne | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Driver, 938, 3rd Light Horse Regiment |
Help us honour John Nicholson Dalzell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College
John Nicholson Dalzell was born in Wallasey, Cheshire to parents Anthony Dalzell and Annie Nicholson in 1980. John had four siblings but one of the four, unfortunately, died quite young. He was educated at Wallasey Grammar, and was taught quite well and was part of the Church of England.
He moved to Australia at age 20 with the intention of getting off at Western Australia but ended up staying in South Australia when a job was offered to be a farm hand there.
He worked here until he was 24 and a half when he enlisted for war on 27th of November 1914, at which point he was 5ft 5 inches (only 1.65 m).
After enlisting John was given his service number, 986 and was given all the other information he was to need. After this John boarded the ‘H.M.A.S Botanist’ with everybody else in his regiment and headed on the long journey to the western front.
His first taste of battle was on the 28th of August 1915 at Gallipoli, where he served in the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. Following his service here, he moved to Alexandria, a city in Egypt and then in the capital of Egypt, Cairo. It was here he got court marshalled for running away to a nearby town for sight seeing, but then he eventually came back.
Most of the 3rd Light Horse Regiment’s recruits were from Adelaide but one of the 3 squadrons were made up of Tasmanians. They arrived in Egypt during the second week of December 1914. Here they met and then joined the 1st and 2nd regiments to form the 1st Light Horse Brigade.
They were then deployed to Gallipoli without their horses about 5 months after arriving in Egypt on the 12th of May 1915. When they arrived their role was mainly defensive and they were in reserve when its partnering regiments attacked as part of the August offensive.
It was the battle of Rafa, in the middle east where John was struck by a bullet in the chest. The bullet went straight through him and he was almost killed, had it not been for the efforts of the first aid troops in the area, who took him to the nearest hospital. After he was nursed back to good health he was sent back to Australia.
This didn’t last very long, which was unfortunate for John as he only got to stay in Australia for a year before he was shipped back to the war.
He got sick again in hospital when the war ended but he got discharged knowing that he made a difference, even if small, to the people in the war and back home in Australia.
John showed incredible courage and bravery in the war. For one, as he was from overseas, John signed up for war even if it wasn’t required of him. He was probably compelled by the need to protect others to sign up.
He also took a bullet, probably one of the most painful things that a human can experience for King and country, but one of the things that anyone who was fighting over there would have done. This also goes along with the fact that John went in again and fought for his empire again, showing extreme bravery, even after he had experienced being shot.