SHAW, John Alexander
| Service Number: | 182 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 September 1914, An original member of A Squadron |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 8th Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Ballangeich, Victoria, Australia, 1887 |
| Home Town: | Terang, Corangamite, Victoria |
| Schooling: | The Sisters State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Malta, 16 August 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
Pieta Military Cemetery Plot A, Row VII, Grave No. 3. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Terang 100th Centenary of Armistice Remembering Our Fallen, Terang War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 182, 8th Light Horse Regiment, An original member of A Squadron | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Feb 1915: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 182, 8th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of Victoria embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Feb 1915: | Embarked Lance Corporal, 182, 8th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Star of Victoria, Melbourne |
Help us honour John Alexander Shaw's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
John was 27 and the son of Frederick and Elizabeth Shaw.
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
John Alexander Shaw was one of two sons of Frederick and Elizabeth Shaw of Terang, Victoria, who lost their lives during the First World War. Their father, Frederick, has passed away in 1912. The two brothers were farming at Terang.
John’s older brother 1015 Cpl. Archibald Samuel Shaw, also of the 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment, was killed in action at the Battle of Romani in Egypt on the 9 August 1916, aged 35.
They were both original members of A Squadron of the 8th Light Horse Regiment, enlisting in 1914 and made up predominantly of country Victorian farmers. John was promoted to Corporal while in camp at Broadmeadows. The brothers left Melbourne on 25 February 1915 but along the way, Archibald fell sick and had to be taken from the ship and put into hospital at Albany, Western Australia.
John landed on Gallipoli with the rest of the Light Horse during mid-May 1915. He fought there for three months until he was a member of the infamous Charge at the Nek, where he severely wounded in both legs. The 8th Light Horse Regiment made up the first line of the attack and the regiment lost 151 men killed, and John was one of another 11 who died within a few days of their wounds.
John was taken by hospital ship to Malta, badly wounded, and tragically, having survived the battle and the journey, died eleven days later. He at least had a beautiful grave on the island, as many of the bodies of his comrades were not recovered.
His mother was granted a pension of 12 pounds per annum in October 1915.
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