Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of John IRELAND and Florence Elizabeth May nee CORNELIUS. John William Ireland was a male private ranked soldier fighting for Australia back in World War 1. He was born in 1898 May the 5th. He was born in Norwood South Australia. The exact hospital couldn’t be found. His hometown was Norwood South Australia. When Ireland went to war he went with his brother. They both were laborers but unfortunately they died in separate countries. John died in France but his brother died in an unknown location. Unfortunately both the Ireland brothers died in battle and didn’t make back to their hometown Norwood.  When John died he wasn’t buried in Australia he was buried in Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in Picardie France. Although Johns time in the war was short he still made a difference. While John was serving in the war he fought in a battle called The Western Front where many lives were lost. John also boarded the ships called  “HMAS Australia 1911 Battlecruiser”. This ships could hold 800 people and was 590 ft and weighed 21.3 tones. This ship was lucky to not be hit by the German submarines. Some ships were unlucky back then when the torpedoes that the German shot at them under water hit them. John was lucky enough to dodge this bullet. While John was in the war he also went on “The Princess”. John only served under 2 years he was in the pay grade E-2 and only got paid $1756.50 with no bonuses added which wasn’t bad back in WW1 times. Australia was helping Britain in the war and together they lost almost a million and most of them died in the western front and sadly that included John. John didn’t die from being gassed or an infection he died by a bullet wound to the chest and then continued to bleed out without any medical attention. John William Ireland was  a brilliant soldier that died at a young age and will always be remembered for Australia because of his bravery to fight for his country.