Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Lawrence Sharp was a South Australian soldier who served his country in World War 1.

Sharp was born in 1897 and lived on Carter Street, in the suburb of Prospect, Adelaide. Sharp was the eldest and only son to John Sharp Senior and Mrs. M.E Sharp. He worked as a plumber prior to enlisting for war and had no previous experience working for the army. Sharp was British born, meaning both his parent were British descent and followed Roman Catholicism. He had no partner and lived with his mother, who was also his next of kin, meaning if anything happened to Sharp during the war, she would be notified.  

At the age of 18, in January 1915, Sharp enrolled to volunteer for the army and signed the attestation papers for war in Adelaide. He stood at 5’3 and a half, with fair hair and skin with grey eyes. He weighed 125lbs (56kgs). For today’s standards, Sharp would be considered short, however most soldier during WW1 were around 5’5.  

After attestation, he was assigned to the 27th battalion, as a private. A private rank is the lowest rank for a military rank and majority of men from the suburbs of Adelaide were assigned to the 27th Battalion with the same ranking, exactly like Sharp.

On the 31st of May, 4 months after enlistment, Sharp then embarked on the HMAT Geelong A2, a ship that carried many Australian men, specifically from the 27th battalion to Egypt. After reaching Egypt in, the 27th battalion spent their time training by participating in numerous marches and many route marches for roughly 2 months.

After completing training, the battalion embarked to Gallipoli where they eventually landed in September 1915. While in Gallipoli, the battalion reinforced New-Zealand and Australian forces until they evacuated in December, suffering only minor casualties while there.

The battalion then went back to Egypt for a brief amount of time, before eventually going to fight at the Western Front in France and Belgium as part of the 2nd Australian division. In April 1916, the battalion was transported to the front-line trenches near Armentieres. It was a relatively quiet sector, and no major action was seen to the battalion, but on the 28th of July 1916 the battalion was ordered to march to The Somme, and they fought their first major battle at Pozieres, which lasted from July to the 5th of August.

On the 4th of August, the 27th Battalion was to play a major part in an attack against the Germans around Bapaume, a town which the British were trying to capture. The was congestion around the German trenches, but the battalion managed to capture the first line of German trenches.  

A diary entry from the 4th of August 1916 recounts that Sharp was wounded in action on that date. The passage states the words ‘Bapaume’, meaning Sharp was wounded while participating in this particular attack.

On the 16th of November 1916, at 19 years of age, Sharp contracted a disease and was moved to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital on the 17/11/16. This hospital treated soldiers with many diseases. While at the hospital, Sharp missed one month of training with the battalion, as he was released on the 15/12/16.  

In 1917 the Battalion participated in minor attacks against the German and only had another major fight in September at the battle of Menin Road. This was part of the Third Battle in Ypres where the British attempted to take part of the east of Ypres, where Menin Road crossed. This battle resulted as a success for Australians, even though they had to surpass German counterattacks.

Sharp participated in the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge on the 4th of October, a battle which was another part of the Ypres offensive. The plan was to drop barrage the Germans and protect the troops while they went to their allocated positions. This was the battalions last major battle of 1917 and the Australians suffered high casualties, as the Germans planned an attack on the exact same morning.

 In April 1918, with majority of AIF battalions, Sharp fought against German forces attempting to push them back. Sharp was in the battle of Hamel on the 4th of July, where Australian, American, and British troops overpowered German forces. The 27th Battalion was even part of the first wave in the battle of Amiens that took place on August 8th, where the allies used infantry, artillery, aircraft and tanks as an attack over the span of three days.

In October 1918, the battalion made their last moves when they attempted to fight the Beauvoir Line (German defense), but since no progress was made, they retreated.

Sharp returned to Australia in April 1919. He was awarded three medals to prove his participation in the war overseas and his service to the country.   

Sharp passed away at the age of 47 on the 18th of February, 1945 and was then buried at the AIF cemetery in West Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia. Many soldiers were buried in their hometowns and when Sharp passed, most of the others from his battalion were buried in the AIF cemetery alongside him.