Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Gaskell was born in April 1879 in Kadina, South Australia. He made money for his family as a draper and cook and grew up in Norwood, Adelaide where he lived with his Father (Thomas John Gaskell) and his mother. He had no special war training and he did not have a girlfriend or wife before he joined the war.

On the 28th of February 1916, John Gaskell was 36 and 10 months old when he joined the army, in which he joined the 43rd Infantry Battalion. He was 5 feet 4.5 inches tall (1.3 m), had hazel coloured eyes, brown hair and 30 – 32 inches (76 – 81 cm) wide chest. His unit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board the HMAT A19 Afric on 9th of June 1916.

The 41st, 42nd ,43rd and 44th Battalions were South Australia’s contribution to World War I. All battalions had about 1,000 men, and then split into 4 companies, about 250 each. These were usually named the A, B, C and D companies. The companies were then divided into 4 platoons with about 60 men in each and then the platoons would be further divided into 4 sections with a corporal in charge. There is a picture that shows John Gaskell was in the Number 5 Gun Crew or section, with 15 other men. Infantry soldiers were the soldiers fighting on foot, since John Gaskell returned home, it shows how skilled he was to not be killed on the frontline.

Gaskell’s battalion went to Egypt for a while to train for the war. After brief training in Egypt, they all went to Britain to complete their training. Then Gaskell’s battalion, and many others, were sent to the Third Battle of Ypres. The Australian Infantry Divisions joined the Third Battle of Ypres which had been going on since 31 July. Luckily, the change of weather gave them better fighting conditions. The small advances from the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions took them up to the remnants of Polygon Wood. German concrete pillboxes often blocked the Australians' progress, and many men died from their machine guns, but with heavy artillery support, the objectives were taken and enemy counter-attacks held off. They kept making small advances and increasing their supportive and defensive artillery which pushed the frontline forward by a few kilometres, but many men died as a consequence.

After the victory in the Third Battle of Ypres, the 43rd Battalion spent most of 1918 battling in Somme Valley. In April they played a big part in stopping the German Spring offensive at Villers-Bretonneux and in July the battalion was part of General Monash's attack at Hamel. In August and September, the battalion helped drive the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line. The 43rd then joined the advance that followed the 2nd Division's victory at Mont St Quentin and it was during this operation that Temporary Corporal Lawrence Weathers earned the battalion's only Victoria Cross. Lawrence was mortally wounded in the battalion's next battle. John Gaskell personally did some countless actions that helped the battalion and in the middle of the battle at Somme Valley, he was promoted from Gunner (Gnr) to Private (Pvt).

Finally, on the 11th of November 1918, all guns went silent on the Western Front and all of Europe. The 1919 soldiers left in the 43rd Battalion returned to Australia ready to be taken out of service and dismissed.

John Gaskell, then returned to his normal life. He lived peacefully for 5 more years, then he died at 45 years old on the 25th of October 1924 from natural causes.

Bibliography:

Details 2016, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=108193>.

RSL Virtual War Memorial | John GASKELL 2016, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/262117>.

Australian War Memorial 2015, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/112376/>.

View digital copy 2017, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4028350>.

Australian War Memorial 2016, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51483/>.

Battle of Passchendaele (Third Ypres) | Australian War Memorial 2016, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/blog/2007/04/11/battle-of-passchendaele-third-ypres/>.