Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Patrick Hoolahan #2343 15th/47th Battalion

The records for John Hoolahan are quite limited. It is clear from his attestation papers that he enlisted on 13th July 1915 in Brisbane. He gave his age as 30 years and two months; and reported that he had worked as a lithographer with the large printing firm Watson Ferguson. It would appear that both parents were either deceased or not living in Australia as he gave his married sister, Mrs Hannah Halligan as his next of kin. It can be presumed that he lived with his sister as he gave his address and hers as Shakespeare Street, Coorparoo.

John was initially drafted into the 6th reinforcements for the 15th Battalion which by the time of his enlistment was fighting on Gallipoli. John embarked for Egypt on 20th August 1915 and by 23rd October had arrived on the island of Lemnos prior to going to Gallipoli. Instead of reinforcing the battalion on the peninsula, John was admitted to hospital on Lemnos with what at first was diagnosed as tonsillitis but was later found to be diphtheria. By 25th November, John had been transported by hospital ship to England where he remained until April 1916 when he was transported back to Egypt where the AIF was in the process of expanding from 2 to 4 divisions (a further division was being assembled in England). One of the original 1st division battalions, the 15th, was to be divided to create a new battalion, the 47th. Official histories describe the methodology for dividing the existing battalions as varied, but it is noted that in the case of the 15th Battalion, instead of dividing the competent officers and NCOs evenly, the 47th was left with a compliment of veterans who were perhaps not up to acceptable standard. To exacerbate this situation, to bring the 47th up to strength, men were transferred into the battalion who had been on garrison duty in Egypt, had been sick in hospital and in a couple of instances, men who had been released from the stockade. John Hoolahan, on returning from hospital, was one of those drafted into the 47th.

When the rest of the AIF (minus the Light Horse) were sent to France, the 47th remained behind for further training and garrison duty on the Suez Canal. The battalion was involved in a highly embarrassing incident which illustrated the lack of discipline within the battalion. The Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VIII, visited Egypt on an inspection tour. Included in the tour was a review of the 47th battalion. Instead of giving the usual three cheers, the men broke ranks and surrounded the young prince and proceeded to count him out, much like a boxing referee. The Prince was quite shaken according to his own account.

When the 47th finally departed for Marseilles, the battalion history records that the Commanding Officer and other senior officers became roaring drunk as they crossed the Mediterranean; apparently having discovered that alcohol could be purchased on credit whilst at sea. Similar episodes of drunkenness were reported when the battalion arrived at Outersteene near Armentieres and the first pay for several months was issued.

The 47th Battalion had only been in France a short while before three of the Australian divisions (1st, 2nd and 4th) were sent to the Somme for the attack on Pozieres. During operations to hold German trenches won in previous assaults, John Hoolahan was killed in action. A note in the file held in the National Archive records that he was buried on the battlefield “500 yards north east of Pozieres”. In 1918, this battlefield would be fought over twice more and by the time that individual graves were being consolidated into fixed cemeteries, all trace of John Hoolahan’s grave had been lost.

John Hoolahan is commemorated on the memorial panels at the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. Today just outside the village of Pozieres, half way between Albert and Bapaume are the remains of a windmill and German blockhouse. The windmill; occupying a position on the highest part of the ridge just behind the two lines of trenches which the 47th held on 8th August 1916, provides a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. On the site of the windmill is a commemorative stone which reads:

“The ruin of the Pozieres windmill which lies here was the centre of the struggle on this part of the Somme Battlefield in July and August 1916. It was captured by Australian troops who fell more thickly on this ridge than on any other battlefields of the war.”

John Hoolahan’s sister Hannah received his medals, including the 14/15 star in 1922.