Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

According to his enlistment papers, John was born on the 1st March, 1920 in Melbourne, Victoria to John and Celine Marie Anne Marshall. In reality he added three years to his age, being only 17 when he enlisted and born in 1923. John’s youth must have been challenging as he sustained noticeable scars on his left chest and arm.
While his father lived in Hawthorn, a suburb of Adelaide, John tried his hand at Jackarooing but with the outbreak of WWII he enlisted on the 1st July 1940 being allocated the number SX7759. At a similar time, 18-year-old Allan Porter SX7315 from Kent Town (who gave his age as 20), 26-year-old, newly married John Christerson SX7791 from Kadina and Robert Carey SX7943 from Port Adelaide also enlisted. Despite not knowing each other, their lives became inextricably linked. They were all to be assigned to the newly formed 2/48th Battalion, and, despite their different ages and backgrounds, their lives were to be inextricably linked. Their initial days were spent in the cold of the Pavilions, now part of the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds. Unfortunately, soon after arriving at Wayville John sustained a sprained ankle which was quickly treated before the new enlistees headed to Woodside for their preliminary training. After pre-embarkation leave, the 2/48th contingent embarked on the Stratheden for the Middle East, on the 7th November 1940, arriving on the 19th December 1940.
Their 2/48th Battalion completed a few months training in Cyrenaica before going to Tobruk at the start of April 1941 where the dust, flies, heat, minimal water supplies and constant bombardment were quite a challenge to these fresh new enlistees. They were to become the famed Rats of Tobruk.
Within a month, the four men, John, Robert Carey, Allan Porter and John Christerson were all killed in action on the same day, just 10 months after enlisting. John Glenn in his book, ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’ described conditions at Dimra: “At 3:50 am on 1st May the men of the 2/48th stood-to to await the outcome of the battle which had raged all through the night. In thick mist, darkness, and bitter cold they snatched a quick breakfast of bully beef and hard biscuits.”
The remainder of that day was chaotic, information scant, the men weary and under heavy fire and a sandstorm raged. The next morning there was a terrific dust storm but a foot patrol set out to find their soldiers who had not returned. For a few of those missing men it was some time before their fate was confirmed. Mark Johnson in his recent book, ‘Derrick In His Own Words’ explained that ‘On 1 May the 2/48th suffered 51 casualties, including 16 killed. Besides John, these included Herbert Neumann SX8014 from Aldgate, Robert Carey SX7943 from Portland, John Christerson SX7791 from Yorketown, William Gates SX6867 from Brompton and Allan Glanville Porter SX7315 all from the 2/48th Battalion. In the sparseness of his journal entries collated by Mark Johnston, Derrick captures the horror of war and the brutal effects of losing a mate. He writes “2 May 1941 (Friday)Behind the Blue Line, Tobruk, Libya. Out early after a terrible experience – digging in about 1½ miles from front line. 2/10th going forward now – the 2/23 & 2/24 [were] cut about more than us. Will never forget the bloody blue of May the First. A tragic day. John’s death occurred just two months after his 18th Birthday on 1st May, 1941, with his death being confirmed on the 17th May.
Back home, the Advertiser reported John’s death ‘Marshall— On the 1st of May, Private John H. H. Marshall, killed in action, eldest son of Mr. J. Marshall and the late Mrs. Marshall. 5I Kent Street, Hawthorn.’ The newspaper then reported the full casualties on the 21st May ‘41. SOUTH AUSTRALIA Abroad Killed in Action— Pte. George M. Best. SX1391, 2/10th Murray Bridge; Pte. Robert H. Carey, SX7943, Inf., Portland; Pte. John W. Christerson, SX7791. Yorketown; Pte. William T. Gates, SX6867. 2/48th Brompton: Pte. John H. H. Marshall. SX7759. 2/48th Hawthorn; Pte. P. R. Miller, SX9101, 2/8 Field Med., Lucindale; Pte. Allan G. Porter. SX7315, 2/48th, Kent Town.
John and his fellow 2/48th soldiers were re-buried on the 17th May ’44 at the Knightsbridge War cemetery, Acroma, John in Plot VII, Row A Grave 13 and surrounded by others from the 2/48th Battalion including Sergeant Leslie K. Tonkin, SX6911, Privates Raymond J. Cooke SX8862, Robert Carey SX7943, Douglas E. Bagshaw SX7468, John H Marshall SX7759, Walter A. Birrell SX6060, and Raymond G. Young SX6607 all of whom lost their lives on May 1st. John’s widowed father chose to have no inscription on the headstone, but a cross. John now rests with his mates and with 3670 other casualties remembered at Knightsbridge.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.