LEVIEN, John Lawson
| Service Number: | 2406 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 April 1915, Brisbane, Queensland and assigned to 9th Battalion, 7th Reinforcement intake. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 9th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Balhan, London, England, 25 January 1885 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Executed whilst a civilian by the Japanese, Gasmata, New Britain, New Guinea, 1 November 1942, aged 57 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Location of grave unknown, buried in Gasmata Region. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2406, 9th Infantry Battalion, Brisbane, Queensland and assigned to 9th Battalion, 7th Reinforcement intake. | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Aug 1915: | Involvement Private, 2406, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2406, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Shropshire, Sydney | |
| 29 Dec 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2406, 9th Infantry Battalion, Medically unfit, disability stated as shrapnel wound to left arm. |
Help us honour John Lawson Levien's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Dianne Black
Parents: - Louis Woodifield Levien and Ellen Lawson Butcher married 1877 in Holborn, London, England.
Wife: - Rae Morris married 1915 in Manchester, Lancashire, England.
Fate: - John Lawson Levien was employed as a Plantation Manager with Lindenhafen Estates, New Britain. After the invasion of New Guinea he was captured and murdered by elements of the Japanese Imperial Forces, (civilian war dead). He was buried in and unmarked grave in the Gasmata region of New Guinea. His death was confirmed by attached newspaper article below extracted from Trove.
The Sun Sydney, Monday 10th Dec 1945, Page 5.
Mother's Gift Identifies Man
'A signet ring with a pendant seal inscribed with an eye and the words, "May it watch over you," taken from the common grave of two men in New Guinea, helped the Probate Court today to establish the death, of John Lawson Levien. The Court granted an application bv Lionel Stewart Parker, manager of Burns Philp Trust, Limited, for leave to swear to the death of Levien, who was a plantation manager, aged 57, with an estate valued at £386. Parker said he had received a letter from Levien 's sister in England, stating that the signet ring and seal had been given to her brother by their mother manv years ago. Other evidence was that natives had found the ring in a grave containing the bodies of two adults. Natives had also seen Levien and another man marched into the bush by a Japanese firing party and had heard three shots fired.
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