John James (Jack) LAMB

LAMB, John James

Service Number: 3574
Enlisted: 15 July 1915
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 58th Infantry Battalion
Born: Ceres, Victoria, Australia, 31 March 1897
Home Town: Ceres, Greater Geelong, Victoria
Schooling: Lower Leigh Road State School, Victoria, Australia
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Killed in Action, France, 19 July 1916, aged 19 years
Cemetery: No known grave - "Known Unto God"
commemorated at V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery And Memorial, Fromelles
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Barrabool Hills Holy Trinity Memorial Window, Barrabool Holy Trinity Church Honor Roll WWI, Barrabool Holy Trinity Sunday School Boys Honor Roll, Batesford Lower Leigh School and District Honor Roll, Ceres Indpendent Order of Rechabites Honor Roll, Stonehaven Lower Leigh School and District Honor Roll, V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial
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World War 1 Service

15 Jul 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3574, Depot Battalion
5 Jan 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3574, 22nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: ''
5 Jan 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3574, 22nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Melbourne
23 Jun 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3574, 58th Infantry Battalion, Embarked Alexandria to Marseilles
19 Jul 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3574, 58th Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3574 awm_unit: 58th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-07-19

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Private John James Lamb (Service No:3574) enlisted in the AIF on 15 July 1915 and embarked from Melbourne for Egypt with 22nd Infantry Battalion on 5 January 1916 on board HMAT A19 Afric. Private Lamb was hospitalised with Dpitheria in Egypt, and transferred to 57th Infantry Battalion and then 58th Infantry Battalion at Tel el Kabir in February/March. He embarked from Alexandria for Marseilles, France on 23 June 1916 and was at Fleurbaix, Fromelles on 19 July 1916 when he was initially Posted as Missing, then reported as KiA. 'He was killed in the first wave going over at Fromelles by shrapnel. I saw this and also his dead body' (Private E Hill; Red Cross Files). 'He was killed by a shell at Fleurbaix out in No Man's Land during the daytime. I was about 20 yards from him at the time. His body was left there as we retired back to out trenches and we never got our dead in' (Private JH Lamb; Red Cross Files). Chaplain F P Williams wrote to his mother, enclosing the sole personal effect - a thick wallet completely penetrated with rifle bullet - 'I regret very much to say there is small hope of his ever appearing in this life again ... like many others your boy, he went out to fight against the enemy and has not returned ...' (NAA). Private Lamb has 'No Known Grave' and is commemorated at the Australian Cemetery and Memorial in Fromelles, France.

Born in Ceres, Geelong in 1897, Jack was second of four children of John James Lamb Snr (b1865 in Burrumbeet, Victoria) and Ada Harriet Beck (b1864 in Ceres, Geelong, Victoria). John Snr (a Farmer) and Ada married in 1893 in Barrabool Hills where they settled and raised their family and John Snr was a Farmer until retiring to Geelong.

Jack worked as a Farmer in Barrabool Hills before his enlisment.

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