ALCORN, John Macquarie
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Major |
| Last Unit: | Army Medical Corps (AIF) |
| Born: | West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia, 1 January 1881 |
| Home Town: | Walcha, Walcha, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Maitland High School , New South Wales, Australia and Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation: | Medical Practitioner |
| Died: | Natural causes, Moss Vale, New South Wales, Australia, 25 September 1936, aged 55 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemeteries & Crematorium, New South Wales Cremated |
| Memorials: | Maitland High School Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sea Transport Staff | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Mar 1916: | Involvement Captain, Medical Officers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Armadale embarkation_ship_number: A26 public_note: '' | |
| 21 Mar 1916: | Embarked Captain, Medical Officers, HMAT Armadale, Sydney | |
| 2 Oct 1916: | Involvement Captain, Sea Transport Staff, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '24' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Oct 1916: | Embarked Captain, Sea Transport Staff, HMAT Nestor, Melbourne | |
| 31 Oct 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Captain, Medical Officers, HMAT A8 Argylshire, Sydney, for England but disembarked Fremantle 14 November 1916 due to illness and returned to Sydney in HMAT A33 Ayrshire, disembarking 30 December 1916 | |
| 14 Jun 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Captain, Medical Officers, HT Hororata, Sydney | |
| 17 Sep 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Captain, Army Medical Corps (AIF) | |
| 28 Jan 1918: | Promoted AIF WW1, Major, Army Medical Corps (AIF) | |
| 18 Jan 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Major, Army Medical Corps (AIF), HT Kanowna, England for return to Australia - arriving Sydney 8 March 1919 for a week's infuenza quarantine, disembarking on 14 March 1919. | |
| 26 May 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Major, Army Medical Corps (AIF) |
Help us honour John Macquarie Alcorn's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
The Goulburn Evening Penny Posted reported on Tuesday 29 September 1936 that Dr. John Macquarie Alcorn, a notable figure of Moss Vale, died on Friday evening. While attending to a young patient he collapsed suddenly. Dr. Alcorn was in his 55th year and was born at West Maitland. He was the oldest of a family of two sons and three daughters of Dr Robert George Alcorn, an Irishman and his wife Mary Macquarie.
John Alcorn and his brother, Robert Mandeville Alcorn were educated at Maitland High School and like their father pursued careers as medical practioners.
At the age of 19, John Alcorn entered the Dublin Royal College of Surgeons, graduating in 1905. Returning to Australia he entered private practice and married Emily Rachel Erratt of Walcha in February 1912.
With the outbreak of the war, he was attached to sea transports with the Army Medical Corps, holding the rank of Captain. Returning to Australia in late 1916 due to illness, he re-enlisted six months later serving for two years in Flanders where he attained the rank of Major.
He acquired a practice in Moss Vale in 1919 and became beloved to all who knew him. He was a leading figure in the returned soldiers' movement, and for four years was president of the Moss Vale sub-branch of the league. He was a prominent member of the. Moss Vale Golf Club, a member of the School of Arts, Show Society, and founder of the Southern Highlands Publicity Association.
The funeral arrangements were all in the hands of the Diggers. Returned men, together with the members of the Manchester Unity Lodge, in regalia, formed a guard of honour through which the coffin was carried to St. John's Church. Nearly a hundred Diggers were present.
After his death the community decided that an appropriate memorial should be established in his honour in Moss Vale. The Memorial, which was designed as a work of love by Mr. Harry Sheaffe, of Bowral, bears a four-faced clock and occupies a prominent position in the main street opposite the Post Office. It is of simple and chaste design adding greatly to the dignity of the locality. It cost £300, of which Wingecarribee Shire Council provided £100, the balance being raised by public subscriptions from friends and admirers of the late Dr. Alcorn.
A simple ceremony, with brief and sincere speeches and a great gathering of between fifteen hundred and two thousand citizens from all over the district attended the unveiling of the Memorial by the President of the Returned Soldiers'League on Sunday, 6 February 1938.
References:
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article99610862
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article114788795
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