WIGHT, John Powell
| Service Number: | 278 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 14th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 1887 |
| Home Town: | Ballarat, Central Highlands, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Abdel Rahman Bair Ridge (near Hill 971), 8 August 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Body was never recovered from behind Turkish lines. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Sep 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 278, 14th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Enlisted 17/9/1914 | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 278, 14th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 278, 14th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 26 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 278, 14th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 3 May 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 278, 14th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Wounded at Gallipoli 3/5/1915 (shrapnel in right thigh). Returned to unit 27/7/1915. | |
| 8 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 278, 14th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Missing (later declared killed in action) 8 August 1915 – During the (unsuccessful) attack on Hill 971 as part of the Gallipoli August Offensive. | |
| 8 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 278, 14th Infantry Battalion, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
John Powell Wight enlisted at Ballarat Vic on 17 September 1914, aged 27 years & 9 months.
Assigned to the 14th Battalion AIF, he arrived in Egypt on 31 January 1915. After several months of training, the battalion embarked for Lemnos on 12 April 1915, and then for Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
The battalion landed at Gallipoli on the morning of 26 April 1915, taking up initial positions along Shrapnel Gully under heavy fire, then moving up to Quinn's Post and Courtney's Post on 27 April 1915.
John Wight was wounded in the right thigh (shrapnel) on 3 May 1915 and transferred to No 2 AGH Mena House, Egypt, eventually returing to his unit on 27 July 1915.
John Wight was listed as missing, later killed, in action on 8 August 1915 following the unsuccessful attack on Hill 971 as part of the August Offensive. There is a very high probability he was killed at or near a place called Abdel Rahman Bair (the ridgeline immediately before Hill 971) where the 14th Battalion was caught in the open by well sited Turkish machine guns and driven back with significant casualties (36 killed, 93 wounded and 128 missing - later confirmed killed).
John Wight's body was never recovered and he is memorialised at the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli
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