WEBB, John
| Service Number: | 2257 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 January 1916, Enlisted Goulburn, New South Wales. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 55th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia , 9 July 1893 |
| Home Town: | Queanbeyan, Queanbeyan, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Weetangera Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Barman |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 2 April 1917, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Lebucquiere Communal Cemetery Extension |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Queanbeyan Fallen Soldiers War Memorial, Queanbeyan St. Raphael's War Memorial Church Memorial Walls |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2257, 55th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted Goulburn, New South Wales. | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 2257, 55th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Sydney embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 4 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 2257, 55th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Sydney, Sydney |
John (Jack)Webb.
John Webb's mother Ann was the daughter of Gilbert McInnes who was an employee of Robert Campbell of Duntroon. She died in 1874 when Webb was a baby and his father Thomas deserted his family shortly afterwards. Webb was raised as a ward of Richard Shumack at Weetangerra.
Jack Webb was born in Canberra (probably at 'Springbank') on 9 July 1873. He was taken in as a baby by Shumack and grew up at Weetangera where he attended the school. (Shumack was fined in 1884 because Webb was truant). As a young man he played rugby with the Red and Blacks of Queanbeyan and was working as a barman at the Royal Hotel in Queanbeyan when he enlisted as part of the Men from Snowy River route march in January 1916. He served as a Private with the 55th Battalion in France from the end of 1916 until 2 April 1917 when he was killed in action near Doignies on the Bapaume-Cambrai road. He was buried at Le Bucquiere Communal Cemetery Extension, five miles east of Bapaume. According to his mate Jack Woodger, Webb was killed instantly - a bullet between the eyes. "Poor Webbie'" he wrote, "he was a good soldier. He stuck to me under heavy shell fire. We were both knocked by concussion and Jack pulled me up, remarking, 'Fritz won't get either of us after that Woodger, with his whiz bangs'".
The wife of the proprietor of the Royal Hotel, Mrs. Byrne (sister of Austin Chapman, MHR for Eden-Monaro), arranged for the erection of a Mission Cross in St. Gregory's Church in Queanbeyan in his memory. The military authorities were unable to trace his next of kin so that the British War Medal, Victory Medal, Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll were not sent out.
Australian War Memorial.
Submitted 17 July 2022 by Lynette Turner
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