Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Alexander Gollan was born in April, 1886 in Norwood, South Australia. He had one brother, Alan Bell Gollan who was also in the 10th Light Horse Regiment. His parents’ names were Donald Gollan and Isabel Gollan. His next of kin was his father. Before he enlisted in the war he was single with no kids and worked as a farmer. When he enlisted on the 24th of October, 1914 he was placed in the 10th Light Horse Regiment with the service number 409 where he was a sergeant. This was the only AIF Light Horse Regiment recruited in Western Australia. He enlisted in Guildford, Western Australia.

He trained in Egypt which was hard, difficult, tiring and high intensity. There was very limited rest as training was very frequent. Not everyone had tents to sleep in making life a lot harder. He also served in Egypt and Gallipoli. He was part of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade where the 10th Light Horse Regiment joint with the 8th Light Horse Regiment. The 10th Light Horse Regiment entered the war as an infantry regiment. He arrived at Anzac Cove on the 20th of May, 1915 where they remained in the boat all day. At 5pm they disembarked and arrived at their first stop at 6:30 to 7:30pm where they dug in for the night. They marched to Monash Gully the following day and buried all the dead. They reported for duty on Pope’s Hill for 7 days where there were 30 to 40 casualties on the first day just from the enemy snipers. They were struggling to figure out a way to prevent casualties from enemy snipers. On the 29th of May, 1915 the Turks attacked and blew up pap at Quinn’s and wrecked their trenches. They later reinforced. They used the trenches to bury the dead. He suffered many deaths and wounds in front of his eyes. General Godley personally asked him to convey his praise of gallantry and success to the regiment. Two major events happened not long before he died which were the regiment’s two most famous actions. These were the charge on Nek on the 7th of August, 1915 and Hill 60 on the 29th-30th of August. It hasn’t been confirmed when John Alexander Gollan got his wounds but it may have been from the charge on Nek. He was unable to join the rest of the regiment in their withdrawal from Gallipoli to reorganised and get stronger due to his injuries and death.

John Alexander Gollan suffered serious wounds and was sent to the Hospital of Alexandria where he died from those wounds on the 30th of August in 1915. He died in Walker’s Ridge, Gallipoli. He was then buried in the Chatby Military and War Memorial Cemetery in Egypt.  

John displayed many qualities of an ANZAC. He showed these qualities throughout the war which were endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour and mateship. He helped out his mates throughout the war when they were wounded and when they needed some help. He was brave throughout the war fighting against the Turks and surviving through the harsh living conditions.

John was awarded three medals for his service. These included the 1914-1915 Star Medal, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. The Star Medal was awarded if you had signed up for the war between 1914 and 1915 and if you served in World War I. The British War Medal was awarded to all who served in the war. The Victory Medal was awarded to him as they had won the war.

Bibliography:

Pearson History 2012, Pearson Australia, Melbourne.

National Archives of Australia 2001, Gollan John Alexander : SERN 409 :

POB Norwood SA : POE Guildford WA : NOK F Gollan D, Australian

Government, Canberra, accessed 28 February 2017,

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Australian War Memorial n.d., AWM4 10/15/1 - May 1915, Australia, accessed 28 February 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1013050/?image=1>.

The AIF Project n.d., John Alexander Gollan, UNSW Canberra, Canberra, accessed 28 February 2017, <https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=113534>.

Australian War Memorial n.d., Roll of Honour: John Alexander Gollan, Australia, accessed 28 February 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1729806/>.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission n.d., GOLLAN, JOHN ALEXANDER, Australia, accessed 28 February 2017, <http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/108863/GOLLAN,%20JOHN%20ALEXANDER>.

Australian War Memorial n.d., Anzac Spirit, Australia, accessed 1 March 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/anzac/spirit/>.

ABC Great Southern WA 2014, Looking after the Anzac horses, ABC, accessed 6 March 2017, <http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201409/r1334588_18582749.jpg>.