Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

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John Byrne was born in Ravenswood around 1893. According to one of his sisters, his mother died when John was only two years old and it is possible that John’s upbringing became the responsibilities of his sisters. The family moved to Howard where John’s sister, Mary Byrne, married a Mr John Howard. Another sister, Mrs St John Austin lived at Nikenbah on the Pialba Rail Line. John’s only brother, W.G.Byrne also lived in Howard. John’s father died in 1910.

John had served for 18 months in the Senior Army Cadets and then served with the Citizens Forces. He moved to Mackay from Bundaberg prior to the outbreak of war and presented himself for enlistment in Mackay on 23rd December 1914. John gave his age as a very precise 20 years and 11and ¾ months, probably in an effort to convince the recruiters that he was very close to the age where he would not require parental permission; which in any event would have been problematic as both parents were deceased. John stated his occupation as labourer. He named his sister, Mrs Mary Howard of William Street, Howard as his next of kin.

John’s attestation papers indicate that he was deemed unallocated infantry, in other words, it would be left to the authorities at Enoggera to determine which unit he was to be allocated to. The journey from Mackay to Brisbane was not straight forward in 1914 as there was no continuous rail link. Instead part of the journey would have been undertaken by coastal steamer and concluded by train. When John arrived at Enoggera, he was assigned as part of the 2nd reinforcements for the 9th Battalion, part of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division AIF.

John and the other reinforcements boarded the “Seang Bee” in Brisbane on 13th February 1915. The embarkation roll shows that John had allocated 4 shillings of his 5 shillings a day pay to a Commonwealth Savings Bank Account in his name. The 9th Battalion which John would eventually join was at that time in training camp at Mena on the outskirts of Cairo. By the time John and the rest of the reinforcements arrived in Egypt, the 9th Battalion was at full strength and preparing to depart for the island of Lemnos where they would spend several weeks practicing boat drills prior to the landings at Gallipoli on 25th April.

General Birdwood, the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Forces had chosen the 3rd Brigade to be the first ashore on the morning of the 25th, and the 9th Battalion would take up a position on the right flank, closest to the Turkish guns at Gaba Tepe. After a reasonably successful landing the 9th battled up the slopes to the second ridge where they dug in. For the next two weeks, the Australians consolidated their position while the Turks rained murderous artillery on the Anzac trenches causing considerable casualties. Two weeks after the landing on 5th May, John Byrne landed at Anzac Cove at night and was taken on strength in “D” Company by the 9th Battalion. The battalion war diary contains only sketchy notes about events for the month of May but it appears that the battalion was in the firing line the whole time.

After almost four weeks of fighting at Anzac, the German General Liman von Sanders who was in overall command of the Turkish forces was determined to use his superior numbers to drive the Australians into the sea. For several days during the second week in May, intelligence was reporting a huge build-up of Turkish troops assembling in the groves beyond the sight of the Australians. On the 19th May, and against the advice from Turkish commanders, von Sanders ordered a massive charge along the entire Anzac front. The Turks ran downhill without the support of artillery or machine gun fire. Several sources noted that the Australian defenders poured rifle fire into the attacking waves until the wood on their rifles was too hot to touch. The Turks fell in waves in front of the deadly fire at almost point blank range. Turkish casualties were in the thousands compared to the Australian casualties which were quite light.

Nevertheless, it was reported that Private John Byrne was killed in action; either on the 19th May or during mopping operations the next day. John had been with his battalion for only fifteen days. His official date of death as recorded on the death certificate is 20th May although the battalion war diary does not record any casualties on that day. John was buried in a cemetery that had been established behind the 9th Battalion lines at Shell Green. His grave was marked with a wooden cross and his details. When the Graves Registration Unit visited Gallipoli after the end of the war, a permanent headstone was erected; which reads “Pte John Henry Byrne, 9th Btn, KIA 20/05/15”. Apparently, John’s family did not indicate an inscription. John lies amongst more than 20 men from the 9th Battalion, all of whom were killed on 20th may 1915.

When John’s family were notified of his death, it created a deal of correspondence from John Howard ( John’s brother in law) who wrote on behalf of his wife who was John’s next of kin. The family were concerned to find out if John had any personal effects and also what was the extent of the balance in his savings bank account which had been accumulating at the rate of four shillings a day. Mrs St John Austin of Nikenbah also wrote a long letter on the subject of John’s estate. Once a death certificate was issued, Mary Howard received the balance of the bank account as well as any deferred pay. Mary also received a small parcel of effects; a prayer book, a razor in a case and a photograph.

In 1922, John’s brother, W.G.Byrne signed for three medals, the 1914/15 Star, the Empire Medal and the Victory Medal.