Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Percival Weaver was born near Gawler, South Australia. He lived in Willaston, near Gawler in South Australia. The next of kin was his mother, Mrs M Weaver. Weaver’s religious denomination was Presbyterian. Weaver had a fair complexion; his eyes were brown and his hair was sandy, or the ‘colour of sand’ as people say. He had a height of 5 feet, 10 inches and weighed 67kg. Weaver worked as a tinsmith before he enlisted to join the war. Tinsmithing included designing, drawing and bending metals into different shapes. For example, metal items such as watering cans, funnels and cups were manufactured by tinsmiths.
 
Weaver enlisted on the 7th of December 1914. His rank on enlistment was a Private and his regimental number was 2029. Weaver was in the 10th Infantry Battalion as a 5th Reinforcement. He embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A20 Hororata on the 20th of April 1915. He arrived on Gallipoli on the 8th of July 1915.
 
On the 11th of July 1915, Weaver was wounded in action and admitted to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station at Gallipoli. On the 18th of July 1915, he was transferred to Military Hospital in Tigne, Malta from hospital ship Gascon suffering with a shrapnel wound on the left buttock. On the 15th of August 1915, he transferred to Ghajn Tuffieha Convalescent Hospital. On the 26th of August 1915, he transferred to England. On the 9th of September 1915, Weaver was admitted to Military Hospital, Endell Street in London, England suffering with defective eyesight. On the 11th of March 1916, he left England to return to Australia. Weaver reached Adelaide, Australia from Portland, England, on board HMAT A29 Suevic on the 22nd of April 1916 and his illness was specified as defective eyesight. He was admitted to No. 7 Australian General Hospital, Keswick suffering with defective eyesight. On the 23rd of May 1916, he was discharged from hospital. On the 26th of May 1916, Weaver was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force because he was medically unfit and not due to misconduct.
 
Weaver received three medals for his support and service as a soldier of the Australian Imperial Force in World War 1. These medals included the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
 
ANZAC stands for ‘Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’. The ANZAC qualities include doing their duty, endurance, courage, ingenuity, patriotism, good humour, mateship, tenacity and commitment. The ‘ANZAC Spirit’ is a set of ideals or behaviours and values that the soldiers presented during the war. In other words, it is the way the soldiers saw themselves and the way they behaved. The ANZAC spirit was shown by Weaver and all the soldiers who fought in the war by enlisting to join the war even though it was voluntary. Weaver showed great courage when transferring from hospital to hospital due to his injuries. He also showed endurance by lasting a long time in these military hospitals. Many soldiers showed mateship by their strong bonds with each other. There were soldiers who carried their mates who were struggling to get away from danger, to safety. Weaver showed true spirit as well as commitment by fighting hard during the war and not letting his injuries or wounds that he was suffering from slow him down. All soldiers showed patriotism by sacrificing oneself to fight for their country. If you died during the war, you were not considered as a loss, but a patriot, because you “died for your country” as well as supported to the best of your abilities to defend your country.

 
Bibliography
 
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