DUFF, John Joseph
| Service Number: | 1882 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 April 1916, Enlisted at the Goulburn recruitment office. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 35th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | West Yeumburra Yass NSW, 11 May 1875 |
| Home Town: | Yass, Yass Valley, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Unknown |
| Occupation: | Grazier |
| Died: | Tetanus, from untreated hand wound, NSW, 8 July 1926, aged 51 years |
| Cemetery: |
Yass Cemetery, NSW Buried in the Catholic section of the Yass Cemetery. |
| Memorials: | Yass & District WW1 Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 1882, 35th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at the Goulburn recruitment office. | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 1882, 35th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Sydney embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 4 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 1882, 35th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Sydney, Sydney | |
| 20 Dec 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1882, 35th Infantry Battalion, Embarked at Folkestone. | |
| 22 Jan 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 1882, 35th Infantry Battalion, Spent just over 4 weeks in France before contracting Pneumonia in transit to the frontlines. | |
| 24 Sep 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 35th Infantry Battalion, Transferred to Melbourne after medical board deemed his chronic bronchitis too much to allow him to continue service. | |
| 22 Oct 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 1882, 35th Infantry Battalion, Discharged in Melbourne after recovering from Pneumonia. However retained his bronchitis. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
John Joseph Duff (Jack) was born on the 11th of May 1875 West Yeumburra Yass NSW, to James and Maria Duff being the eighth child. Jack was baptised on the 30th of September 1875. Jack often helped his older brother Tom in running West Yeumburra as a Grazier.
At the start of the war, Jack was ready to join up as he was known to be incredibly patriotic, however, he decided to put it off as West Yeumburra still required his services. Finally, in 1916 he managed to sign, and after a short stay in Plymouth Britain for basic training, he was shipped off to France.
Although eager to fight Jack only spent 4 weeks in France moving towards the enemies before contracting pneumonia. At the time Pneumonia was still considered quite dangerous as antibiotics weren't around yet. So he was sent back to England to recover.
This unfortunately was the end of his service in the AIF, he was discharged on medical grounds and soon left for Melbourne. During this time he would live for a further 10 years working at West Yeumburra before dying of Tetanus from a rusty nail to the hand.
Jack's service was short however during his time he was described as extremely patriotic and perhaps the most prevalent example was his putting down of age. At the time of enlistment, Jack was 41 however he put it down to 37 to get through.
Information taken from family records, "The Duffs Of Yass, by Diana Macquillan", and the National Austrlian Archives.