Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From the Australian Remembrance Army
 
Pte John Patrick Coleman
Service No: 3822
Rank: Private
Unit: 4th Pioneer Battalion

Our group of volunteers recently had the honour of restoring the lettering to the civilian granite headstone of WW1 veteran, John Patrick Coleman. John’s grave can be found high on the hill at Toowong Cemetery, with beautiful views of Brisbane City. All this voluntary work was carried out on behalf of the Friends of Toowong Cemetery and with permission from Brisbane City Council.

𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻 was born in Bundamba, Queensland on 8 February 1891 to parents Catherine Nee and John Coleman. He was the third born of eight children and had four sisters and three brothers. The family lived in Frederick Street at Ipswich, and by 1913, John was working as an apprentice turner. His father John Snr died on 22 June 1913 and his mother remarried in 1916.

John enlisted for service in WW1 on 17 January 1917 at Ipswich. He embarked at Sydney per “Hororata” on 14 June and disembarked at Liverpool, England on 26 August, marching in to the Pioneer Training Battalion at Fovant the following day. The following year on 23 January 1918, John proceeded overseas to France, disembarking at Havre. He was taken on strength of the 4th Pioneer Battalion in the field on 29 January.
After serving in France for nine months, John was granted leave and returned to the UK on 30 October, returning to France on 17 November to rejoin his unit. He was detached for an Education Course on 19 December, rejoining the 4th Pioneer Battalion from St Etienne Workshop on 12 February 1919. John was then detached to Loading Party on 20 February, rejoining his unit from detachment on 16 April. He was transferred from Havre to England on 4 June 1919 and disembarked in England the following day. The following month on 18 July, John embarked for Australia. He left England on the transport ship “Takada”, disembarking in Australia on 7 September 1919. He was discharged from service on 9 October 1919.

After arriving back in Australia, John returned to Ipswich and resumed his work as apprentice turner. On 25 August 1920, he married Dorothy Duffy and the couple had their only child, daughter Denise Henrietta Coleman in July 1921. By 1931, John and Dorothy and daughter Denise had moved to a home at Railway Terrace in the inner Brisbane suburb of Milton, where John worked as a brass finisher and Dorothy worked as an artist. Dorothy was a self-taught artist who painted miniature portraits described as “little artistic gems painted with delicate perfection upon ivory”. She also painted portraits on a large scale, with one of her largest canvases being that copied from Holbein’s Henry VIII, painted for the Twelfth Night Theatre for one of its plays. By 1949, John and Dorothy had moved to 45 Ascog Terrace at Toowong. Both John and Dorothy were now working as portrait photographers and lived in this home for nearly a decade.

On 20 September 1959, John Patrick Coleman died suddenly at his home at Ascog Terrace, aged 68 years. He was buried at Toowong Cemetery the following day.

Lest We Forget