Boyd, John

No.6234 – Private John Boyd – 11^th Battalion AIF

John Boyd was born in Sydney NSW in 1883 to John and Elizabeth Boyd. The family moved across to Western Australia and took up residence in Swan Street North Fremantle. The family also then lived at Thompson Road and Congdon Street North Fremantle.

John was working as a miner in the Kalgoorlie Goldfields before enlisting in the AIF. When he presented himself to the recruiting office on the 25^th March 1916 he was accepted as fit for service. The medical examiner found John to be 5 feet 10 inches in height; weight of 10 stone; chest measurement of 37 inches; fresh complexion; blue eyes and dark hair. His religious denomination was Presbyterian. After a short stint at No.54 Depot, John was assigned to the 20^th Reinforcements to the 11^th Battalion AIF. This group embarked at Fremantle on the 18^th September 1916 aboard the H.M.A.T. “Clan MacGillivray” and made their way to England where they docked at Plymouth on the 2^nd November 1916. Upon arrival the men were sent to No.3 Training Battalion, where they spent much of November & December 1916. John had an indiscretion went he went Absent without leave for 24 hours. As a punishment he was given 24 hours detention and forfeited 4 days pay.

On the 17^th December 1916, John embarked fro France and marched into the 1^st Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples in France. Another month was spent here and John finally joined the 11^th Battalion in the field on the 17^th January 1917. He survived the Battle at Lagnicourt in April 1917 and was wounded in the right leg during the actions at Bullecourt on the 6^th May 1917. He was sent back to the 1^st Australian General hospital on the French coast at Rouen where his wound was deemed serious enough for evacuation back to England. John arrived in ‘Blighty’ on the 20^th May 1917 and was sent to Reading War Hospital. He would spend three months there before being transferred to the 3^rd Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford. After his transfer here he received a few weeks of furlough. John reported to Codford Camp on the Salisbury Plains on the 10^th September 1917 but was sent to hospital sick, suffering from Urethritis. He spent a week in the Camp Isolation Hospital and then marched out to the Overseas Training Brigade at Perham Downs Camp.

John was found to be fit enough for service in France and landed at Le Harve on the 11^th November 1917. A week was spent at the 1^st Australian Division Base Depot before rejoining the 11^th Battalion in the field on the 20^th November 1917. The 11^th Battalion was then holding ground near Passchendaele and would spend the next few months in this region and also near Messines.

On 21^st March 1918 the German launched their Operation Michael which broke through the Third & Fifth British Armies. The 3^rd, 4^th, 2^nd & 5^th Australian Divisions were sent south to the Somme to try and hold the Germans. The 1^st Division was the last to depart from the north and had just reached the Somme area when the Germans launched another assault up north which broke through the weak British line. The 1^st Division were quickly put back on the trains they had just come down in and rushed back North in the vicinity of Hazebrouck. The 11^th Battalion on arrival took up the line near Merris and Meteren.

On the 16^th April 1918 Private John Boyd was severely wounded in the head by German shrapnel. He was evacuated back to the 1^st Field Ambulance but soon died of his wounds. He was buried at Borre Churchyard in plot A.6

There are ten Australian and British soldiers in this Churchyard Cemetery, all of whom were killed in April 1918.