GRECO, John Herbert
| Service Number: | 74 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 August 1914, An original member of A Company, 9th Bn. Enlisted in Brisbane, Queensland. |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Footscray, Victoria, Australia, 1886 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Wesley College, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Salesman |
| Died: | Killed in action, Dernancourt, France, 5 April 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Enoggera Shire Council Roll of Honour WW1, Lutwyche St. Andrew's Anglican Church Lynch Gate, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 74, 9th Infantry Battalion, An original member of A Company, 9th Bn. Enlisted in Brisbane, Queensland. | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Sep 1914: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 74, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Omrah embarkation_ship_number: A5 public_note: '' | |
| 24 Sep 1914: | Embarked Lance Corporal, 74, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Omrah, Brisbane | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Involvement 74, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 74 awm_unit: 49th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Sergeant awm_died_date: 1918-04-05 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Born in Melbourne, John Herbert Greco was the son of Francis and Lavinia Greco and husband of Vera Irene Greco, of Enoggera, Brisbane. His father was tragically killed in a railway accident at Dunolly, Victoria, when John was only two years of age, an only son.
John at some stage moved to Queensland and was married there in 1913. Prior to enlistment he was employed at Thomas Brown and Sons, a large Brisbane merchandising company.
John Herbert Greco enlisted at the outbreak of the war, in August 1914. He was an original member of the 9th Battalion and was among the first men ashore during the Anzac landing on 25 April 1915. He was wounded during that hectic first week on Gallipoli, and spent about eight months in hospital recovering. He was transferred to the 49th Battalion during the expansion of the AIF in 1916.
He was wounded (second occasion) at Pozieres, shot in the chest, and subsequently his services were mainly utilised in instruction work at one of the overseas training camps in England. He returned to the 49th Battalion in the front-line during March 1918 and was killed in action near Dernancourt when the 49th Battalion made a heroic counter attack against a large German force which had broken through the front line Australian defences.
Sergeant Greco left a widow living at Enoggera, and one little daughter—born about six months after her father left Australia. His mother still lived in Melbourne.
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