Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Arthur Ralston’s name on the Portarlington War Memorial paid tribute to a young man who lost his life during the First World War. Although listed as died from Meningitis, he was taken out of the field action on the 15^th July 1918 after suffering from Otitis Media (a middle ear infection). Within a week he had died of meningitis.

Although he only served for less than a year, he suffered from several bouts of sickness ranging from a dose of mumps, influenza and VD. As with many young Australians, he enjoyed his fun and was disciplined whilst onboard for failing to obey orders. He was also out of uniform on an occasion and also disciplined.

John enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 21 April 1917. He was listed as Name: John Arthur Ralston

Height:   5 foot 8 inches

Weight: 9 stone 4 lbs

Chest:     24 ½ inches

Eyes:     Grey

Hair:       Brown

With a scar on his left thigh.

John must have been desperate to become involved in the war as on the 3^rd of January 1916, he had falsely tried to enlist as a 16 year old. He was 16 years and eight months.   Just over a year later on his 18^th birthday, he enlisted again and was accepted. Regimental number 3460 as part of the 9^th Reinforcement of the 59^th Battalion.   Just unfortunate timing for him that he didn’t turn 18 a year later as he may have lived a long life if he had.

John’s life was a little different to the normal in that his family moved a little and he had both step brothers and sisters from his mother’s previous marriages.

His Mother Alice was born in Geelong and had most of her family in the Geelong / Bellarine area. She didn’t have much luck with the men in her life and married twice before she met John's father John Ralston. Alice first married at the age of 16 in July 1870 to William Swainger who was 21. She had her first child soon after towards the end of that year. Within a couple of years, Alice had left William and had met Oliver Martin Martinsen.   Although they did not marry until 1879, Alice had 4 more children to Oliver although 2 died soon after birth.   Of the surviving two, Frederick Vermont (Also on the Portarlington War Memorial) was born in 1873.

They moved around Victoria a bit obviously trying to make a life for themselves. They had 8 children during their time together but only 3 survived although their only girl who made it past her first year died in 1886 at the age of 9.   By the time Alice and Oliver had been together 15 years, they had little to show for their time together. Two boys Frederick and Lewis (also listed on the memorial) who was born in 1885. They had moved constantly and had a great deal of tragedy in their time together.

Alice then at the age of 40 met John Ralston who was 54. They married in 1894 and had a daughter Cath Ellen also in 1894. In April 1899, after 5 years of marriage, they had their second child John Arthur Ralston in South Melbourne. Alice has spent various times in her life in South Melbourne. She had a sister Emma who lived nearby in Prahran and a two brothers who also lived close by. They may have moved a little as John was listed as a labourer in Hastings in 1903, by the time the war had commenced they were settled around Drysdale with John working as a labourer in the area. John Arthur had attended school in St Leonards so would assume they lived somewhere down the Murradoc Road area.

Both John and Alice Ralston remained in the Portarlington / Drysdale area until the end of the war when they moved to Werribee where Alice passed away in 1921. His father John died a few years after in Werribee in 1925. Both the Martinsen boys who survived the war remained in the Bellarine / Geelong area as did John Arthur’s older sister Cath who married Frederick Gates and lived her life in Geelong until she passed away in October 1981.  

After enlisting, he embarked from Sydney on 16 Jul 1917 on HMAS A16 “Port Melbourne”.   After arriving at Liverpool on 16 Sep 1917, he became sick with mumps on the 26^th September. He had 22 days to recover. He was discharged on the 17 October. He saw no service over the following months as he was receiving training in signals at Gosford, England. On 22 March 1918, he was admitted with influenza before he was finally sent to France on the 30^th June 1918.  

He joined his unit on the 8^th July before coming into the field hospital on the 13^th July. He was diagnosed with an middle ear infection which did not improve before it became meningitis. He died on the 21st^d of July without seeing any conflict. John Arthur Ralston was one of the many Australians lost in World War One and it may have been a better way to lose your life than to be killed in action lying on the field somewhere on the Somme. Either way, it was a life lost and affected many left behind. I am sure his father John Ralston, who lost his own father when he was 11, must have been a broken man to lose his son before he left this world. He had managed to live to 85 when he passed away and with his daughter Cath living to 81, John Arthur Ralston was probably denied over sixty years of life due to a war that was meant to end all wars.    

Name: John Arthur Ralston

Service Number: 3460

Rank: Private

Unit: 59th Battalion (Infantry)

Service: Australian Army

Conflict: First World War, 1914-1918

Date of death: 21 July 1918

Place of death: France

Cause of death: Illness (Meningitis)

Age at death: 19

Place of association: Portarlington, Australia

Cemetery or memorial details: St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, Seine Maritime, France

Source: AWM145 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Army