SAXTON, John William
| Service Number: | 261 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 October 1915, Enlisted at Holdsworthy (now Holsworthy). |
| Last Rank: | Second Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 1st Tunnelling Company (inc. 4th Tunnelling Company) |
| Born: | Radford, Nottingham, England, December 1893 |
| Home Town: | Galong, Harden, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Blacksmiths Striker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 25 April 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) Grave IV. C. 13. Personal Inscription BELOVED SON OF MR. & MRS. SAXTON NOTTINGHAM REST IN PEACE |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Radford (UK) St Peter's Church Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 261, Mining Corps, Enlisted at Holdsworthy (now Holsworthy). | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Feb 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 261, Mining Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Feb 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 261, Mining Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Feb 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 261, Mining Corps, HMAT Ulysses, Sydney | |
| 20 Feb 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 261, Mining Corps, HMAT Ulysses, Sydney | |
| 25 Apr 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Corporal, 261, 1st Tunnelling Company (inc. 4th Tunnelling Company), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 261 awm_unit: 1st Australian Tunnelling Company awm_rank: Second Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-04-25 |
Help us honour John William Saxton's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
John was the son Thomas Butler Saxton and Elizabeth Chadburn who married in the Grantham area of Lincolnshire in 1885. Their children included:
Alice Maud (b.1886), Ellen Miriam (b.1887), Henry Butler (b.1889), Florence Elizabeth (b.1891/d.1893), Elsie Winifred (b.1893) and John William (b.1895). The Saxton family lived at: 25 Middlemore Yard, Bluegate, Grantham [C.1891]; 43 Dorset Street, Radford [Radford St Peter’s Church christening of John William Saxton in 1895 & C.1901]; 68 Garfield Road, Radford [C.1911]. Thomas, who worked as wine merchant’s porter in Grantham, died aged 33 in 1896; less than a year after John William was born. His widow didn’t re-marry and in the 1901 and 1911 censuses she states that she was working as a charwoman. A death notice for Corporal John William Saxton gave his mother’s address as either 90 or 99 Hartley Road, Nottingham . The post-war address for her in the CWGC records was 4 Churchville, Old Radford. Elizabeth Saxton, lived to the age of 95, dying in Nottingham in 1958.
He enlisted on 19 August 1914-address given on enlistment-17 Kintore Street, Camberwell, Victoria, Australia.
He embarked for England aboard HMAT Hororata A 20 from Melbourne on 19 October 1914 with the ‘C’ Company, 6th Infantry Bn., Australian Imperial Force; transferred to the 1st Company Australian Tunnelling Corps on 6 October 1915.
He is remembered on the Radford - St Peter's Church War Memorial
Biography contributed by John Oakes
John William SAXTON, (Service Number 261) was born at Nottingham, England about December 1893. He worked in the Permanent Way Branch of the Railways including on the Cullerin to Jerrawa Duplication and Deviation. The Australian War Memorial gives his place of association as Galong.
He enlisted at Holdsworthy on 6th October 1915, giving his mother Elizabeth, living in Nottingham, as his next of kin. He gave his occupation at blacksmiths' striker. He was allotted to the Mining Corps. He embarked HMAT ‘Ulysses’ at Sydney on 20th February 1916 and reached Marseilles on 5th May. From that port city he was conveyed by train to Hazebrouek in Belgium. He was appointed Lance Corporal in October 1916 and 2nd Corporal on 17th April 1917.
Only a week later he was killed in action. He was buried at the Railway Dugouts Burial Ground, Transport Farm, Zillebeke, South-South East of Ypres.
A pension of 49/- per fortnight was awarded to his mother from 10 July 1917.
- based on the Australain War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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