Campbell, John
No.247 – Trooper John Campbell – 10th Light Horse Regiment
John Campbell was born in Stratford, Gippsland Victoria in 1870. He grew up in Victoria and was to spend 8 years serving with the Victorian Permanent Artillery. In the Boer War he served for 1 year and 330 days with the Imperial Yeomanry. After returning from the Boer War he took up residence in Western Australia as his sister, Mrs. McInnes, was residing in Harvest Road North Fremantle. John also resided locally and took up work as a butcher.
On the 23rd October 1914, John, aged 44, offered his services to the AIF. The medical examiner found John to be 5 feet 9 ½ inches in height; weight of 11 stone 7; chest measurement of 34-37 inches; fair complexion; blue eyes and brown hair though slightly balding. His religious denomination was Presbyterian.
On the 23rd October 1914 John was assigned to the 10th Light Horse Regiment and on the 21st December at Claremont Camp, Lt-Colonel Noel Brazier allotted John to B Squadron. Over the next two months the 10th Light Horse trained at places such as Claremont & Rockingham. However embarkation orders soon arrived and B Squadron left Fremantle on the HMAT “Mashobra” on the 8th February 1915.
After their arrival in Egypt the Light Horseman would have noticed the departure of the infantry for an undisclosed destination though popular rumour among the men was that they were bound for Turkey. The infantry landed on the Turkish coast on April 25th 1915 and they were soon in trouble and little headway was made. As the terrain was not conducive to mounted operations, the Light Horsemen were asked to assist but they would have to leave their horses behind. On the 16th May 1915 the 10th Light Horse left Alexandria bound for Gallipoli. The men disembarked on the 19th May, the day of the large Turkish assault.
The 10th Light Horse spent the next few months in the vicinity of positions such as Quinn’s Post and the Nek. John survived the first few months unscathed, though in mid-July in the trenches he was accidentally hit in the groin with a rifle. Reporting sick with a fever he mentioned a pain in the groin region and it was discovered that he had a hernia. He was sent to hospital on Lemnos thereby missing the 10th’s charge at the Nek in early August. On the 4th September 1915 John landed at Malta and stayed here in hospital till the 15th September when he embarked for England. On the 25th September 1915 John was admitted to the Lewisham Military Hospital. John was given a medical examination and was found to be unfit for active service. On the 12th December 1915 he boarded the ship “Star of England” for return to Australia.
On arrival back in Fremantle John was taken straight to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace. He was given a medical examination and it was found that it would extremely doubtful as to whether he would regain fitness for active duty overseas. John was therefore discharged from the AIF on the 2nd March 1916.
He was subsequently given a pension of 10/- per fortnight but his health never full recovered and he died on the 20th March 1918. He is buried in Fremantle Cemetery Plot Pres EE 165.
John did not get a headstone immediately and unfortunately the war graves authorities mixed up John’s grave in Fremantle Cemetery as they listed him as Lt John Campbell who died on the 28th December 1917. (even though Lt Campbell who was killed in Belgium had a separate entry for his own grave at Kandahar Farm Cemetery Belgium). Fortunately the Municipal Cemetery Board had recorded the right John Campbell in their registers and in 2010 this was sorted out with the war graves authorities and a new plaque was inscribed over John’s war grave.