FOX, John
| Service Numbers: | 501, 22, 16480 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 December 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Kapunda, South Australia, 1 January 1874 |
| Home Town: | Longreach, Longreach, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Saddler |
| Died: | Queensland, Australia, 14 September 1940, aged 66 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Toowong (Brisbane General) Cemetery, Queensland Commemorated with a plaque in the QLD Garden of Remembrance |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 501, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 501, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen | |
| 10 Mar 1901: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 501, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 488 notes 5th QIB Draft embarked at Pinkenba 10 Mar 1901 aboard Chicago arriving Port Elizabeth 20 Apr 1901 | |
| 5 May 1902: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 501, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, Bk 4 p. 15, notes returned to Australia aboard Columbian arriving Brisbane 15 May 1902, discharge taken from 5 May 1902. |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Nov 1914: | Involvement Private, 22, 2nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: SS Eastern embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Nov 1914: | Embarked Private, 22, 2nd Infantry Battalion, SS Eastern, Sydney | |
| 11 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 22, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Naval and Military Forces - Special Tropical Corps | |
| 4 Feb 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 22, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Naval and Military Forces - Special Tropical Corps, Discharged at the 2nd Military District | |
| 11 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Driver, 16480, Reinforcements WW1, Enlisted at Longreach, QLD | |
| 9 Jun 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Driver, 2nd Field Company Engineers, From reinforcements | |
| 2 Dec 1916: | Involvement Driver, 16480, Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Dec 1916: | Embarked Driver, 16480, Field Company Engineers, HMAT Orsova, Sydney | |
| 1 Apr 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 16480, 2nd Field Company Engineers, Discharged at the 1st Military District as medically unfit due to Rheumatism |
Help us honour John Fox's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Next of kin originally given as his step brother John Nelligan of Ovingham, Adelaide, SA
Served a five year saddlery apprenticeship with George May of Kapunda, SA
Returned to Australia (first time) on 21 January 1916 aboard SS Morinda
Next of kin later changed to his wife Lily Fox of 32 Warwick Street, Hurstville, NSW
Commenced return to Australia (second time) on 4 January 1919 aboard HT Morvada disembarking on 20 February 1919 at Melbourne for onward travel to Brisbane
Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by Carol Foster
Next of kin originally given as his step brother John Nelligan of Ovingham, Adelaide, SA
Served a five year saddlery apprenticeship with George May of Kapunda, SA
Returned to Australia (first time) on 21 January 1916 aboard SS Morinda
Next of kin later changed to his wife Lily Fox of 32 Warwick Street, Hurstville, NSW
Commenced return to Australia (second time) on 4 January 1919 aboard HT Morvada disembarking on 20 February 1919 at Melbourne for onward travel to Brisbane
Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by Claude McKelvey
Served in both the South African (Boer) war and WW1. First service was as a Private S.N. 501, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Boer War. Second service was as a Driver S.N. 16480, 2nd Field Company Engineers, AIF, WW1.
When John Fox enlisted in 1901, he was part of a draft of men established to follow, and embarked some four days after, the main 5th QIB contingent to South Africa. The men in the draft were not included in the original nominal roll for the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen Contingent, held by National Archives. They were however, included in the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 5th QIB (Qld State Archives).
His photo and details were also published with the rank and file in The Queenslander, 16 Mar 1901, where his N.O.K. was recorded as his father W. Fox, Ennis, County Clare, Ireland.
He first enlisted for WW1 at Rockhampton on 9 Dec 1914 and served as a Private S.N. 498, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Naval and Military Forces- Special Tropical Corps in Rabaul, PNG. He returned to Australia for discharge on 4 Feb 1916.
He then enlisted again at Longreach on 11 Apr 1916, Driver S.N. 16480, 2nd Field Company Engineers, AIF, serving in France. On his Attestation Papers for his 2 enlistments, it was noted that; he was born at Kapunda, South Australia and was 40/41 years old; he was single and a harness maker/saddler; his N.O.K. was his stepbrother John Nelligand, Ovingham, Adelaide, South Australia; and he had previously served 12 months in South Africa with the 5th QIB, and 12 months in the tropics.
At some point after his discharge in 1919 he made his way to Sydney where he married Lily T. Mackinnon at Hurstville in 1930. It appears they returned to Brisbane to live where he passed in 1940, after which Lily appears to have returned to live in Sydney. His service records indicate Lily was living at Hurstville when she lodged an application (as his widow) in 1954 under the War Service Homes Act. It is noted his 2nd Attestation Paper was then amended to show his widow as his N.O.K.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 504; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, Bk 4 p. 15; National Archives Australia- WW1 service record).
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