Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Anthony James-Wallace, Tony as he was called, was born on the 12th April 1887 at the family property “Killarney Station” near St Lawrence, halfway between Mackay and Rockhampton in Queensland. His Irish father John and German mother Amalie, known as Marie, were the parents of 8 children in all but one died in infancy. Tony was the 2nd youngest with 4 older sisters, 1 younger sister and 1 older brother, Frank, who served for Australia in the Boer War. Frank died in April 1906 aged 28. Two of Tony’s older sisters, Emily and Florence, served for Australia as nurses in WW1. There was also an older half-brother, William, born in 1865 to John and his first wife Jane who died in 1870.

“Killarney” was in a remote area so a school house was built on the property and the children were educated there by a governess. Tony’s father died at the family property in February 1901 aged 65.

After his father’s death, when Tony was 14, he moved with his mother and siblings to a homestead called “Athlone” in the Brisbane bayside suburb of Wynnum then later moved to Ernest Street South Brisbane. Due to the family having little money, Tony went to work as a station hand at Mt McConnell Station at Collinsville QLD southwest of Proserpine. When English relatives sent money for his education he attended the Brisbane Grammar School. After completing his schooling he briefly attended the University of Queensland before taking up a position as an assistant surveyor at Winton and Charleville in 1912. He later worked for the Brisbane Water and Sewerage Department before taking up an apprenticeship in marine engineering serving part of the time aboard the SS Kyarra. He gained his certificate in 1916.

On the 8th July 1916, Tony enlisted in the AIF at Brisbane aged 29. In his service records he’s described as being 5ft 8ins tall with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. His service number was 2527, rank was a Private and he was assigned to the 41st Infantry Battalion. He proceeded to the training camp at Bell’s Paddock, Enoggera, and was promoted to Lance Corporal on the 20th October. He embarked from Brisbane on the 17th November 1916 on HMAT Kyarra, the same ship he served his apprenticeship on. He disembarked at Plymouth UK on the 30th January 1917 and proceeded to the 11th Training Battalion at Larkhill Camp on the Salisbury Plain. Larkhill received large contingents of soldiers from Australia and Canada for training before being sent to France. Towards the end of the war, it would have had a population of approximately 20,000 soldiers as it contained 34 camps each training a battalion of 600-800 men. After completing training at Larkhill, Tony and the 41st Battalion embarked for France on the 3rd May 1917 and arrived at the Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples, France, the following day.

Tony attended the bombing school for a week in July and on 27th August he was promoted to Corporal and then Lance Sergeant on the same day. This was followed by a promotion to Sergeant on the 8th October 1917 while the Battalion was at Ypres, Belgium. The Battalion remained in Belgium until December then moved to Erquinghem, France. In early January 1918 Tony took 2 weeks leave to Paris. Ten days after returning from leave Tony, with the Battalion, moved to Kemmel and then Le Touquet.

On the 1st February 1918 Tony was awarded the Military Medal for “bravery in the field”.

During March 1918 the Battalion moved several times and by the 31st it was at Sailly, France. It remained here for the next month then moved several times in May arriving on the 22nd at Villers Bretonneux. Their next move was a month later to Frechencourt, north-west of Villers Bretonneux.

On the 30th June 1918 Tony was selected to attend the No. 4 Officer Cadet Battalion at Keble College at Oxford in England. While at Oxford he played football for the Battalion Team. The following remarks are from Tony’s service record and were made by the Commanding Officer of the No. 4 Officer Cadet Battalion: “Excellent. Has made tremendous progress…a man to be relied upon in any emergency.”

Upon completing his time in Oxford, Tony proceeded to Fovant Camp in early August in preparation for return to France and 10 days later was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. He proceeded from Southampton on the 5th September and re-joined the 41st Battalion in France near Saint Quentin.

Throughout September 1918, Australian forces had helped the British army to secure positions from which an attack on the Hindenburg Line could be launched. The Hindenburg Line was the last and strongest of the German army's defence and consisted of three well defended trench systems established in 1917. On 18th September 1918, a preliminary attack was launched by Lieutenant General Sir John Monash's troops.

On the 29th September 1918 the Australian and US troops spearheaded the second attack and were given the task of breaking defences in the centre. The battle raged for 4 days but they were successful in doing this, however, the casualties were heavy. One of those casualties was Tony. He suffered gunshot wounds to the left shoulder, neck and back. He was admitted to the 11th Field Ambulance at St Emilie that day and then transferred and admitted to the General Hospital at Rouen on the 1st October. He was evacuated to England the following day and admitted to the 3rd General Hospital at Wandsworth on the 3rd October. He remained here until being invalided home to Australia on the 12th December on HMAT Nestor, arriving in Melbourne one 1st February 1919. He was transported from Melbourne and admitted to the Rosemount Military Hospital in Brisbane where he spent the next 2 years convalescing from his wounds, however, he remained permanently disabled in part of his left hand.

On the 2nd November 1921 Tony married Florence Hilda Campbell, known as Hilda, in St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Brisbane. After their marriage they settled in Tuchekoi, west of Cooroy in Queensland where they leased a banana farm. Their first daughter Marie was born in 1922, followed by a son John in 1924, then a daughter Ethel in 1927. Sadly, Ethel was born prematurely and died. A second son Frank was born in 1929 followed by another son Bruce in 1930. In the mid-1930s Tony, Hilda and the family moved to Wellington Point south of Brisbane and ran a small crops farm.

Tony died on the 16th June 1977 two months after his 90th birthday and Hilda joined him 4 weeks later on the 19th July a month short of her 88th birthday. Their memorial plaque is found at the Mt Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, Brisbane QLD.

The Brisbane Grammar School has an Honour Board in the Great Hall which bears 640 names commemorating those from the school who enlisted in WW1.

John Anthony James-Wallace was awarded for service in WW1 the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the Military Medal.

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith 15th September 2021.

Sources https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/241516

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/54107-lark-hill-camp/

https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/1918/battles/hindenburg

His father died when Tony was 14, and he moved to Brisbane with his mother and sisters where they lived in a boarding house which his mother had bought in Ernest Street, South Brisbane. As the family had little money, Tony went to work on "Mt. McConnell" Station until relatives in England sent money for his education. He attended Brisbane Grammar School, and in approximately 1911 went to Queensland University, but left shortly afterwards as he found it too difficult with so little education.

In 1912, he worked as assistant surveyor at Winton and Charleville, and later for the Brisbane Water and Sewerage Department. After this he took up an apprenticeship in marine engineering and served part of his time on board the SS Kyarra, gaining his certificate in 1916.

He then joined the army, later remarking that it was the worst mistake of his life, enlisting in the 41st Battalion which was sent overseas on the same ship, the Kyarra. In England, he attended Officer Training School at Oxford, became a Lieutenant, and received the Military Medal for action during the attack on the Hindenburg Line.

He was wounded in the neck and after spending some months in Wandsworth Military Hospital, he was repatriated to Australia and spent a further two years in Rosemount Military Hospital. He was permanently disabled in part of his left hand.

Tony and Hilda, whom he married in 1921, leased a banana farm at Tuchekoi. The farm prospered but during off-times Tony cut railway sleepers, and during the Depression, he did relief work. In 1934 or 1935 he left Tuchekoi and the family settled in Wellington Point on a small crops farm.

He grew a large variety of things at different times: table grapes, strawberries, potatoes, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots. The red soil of the Redlands area just south of Brisbane, produced the best tasting produce.

In later life, he drove the local taxi, an old black Pontiac, as well as helping his sons on their farms.

He died two months after his 90th birthday. - Nichola Wallace, grand-daughter