Culver, John Osborne

No.7232 – Private John Osborne Culver – 11^th Battalion AIF

John Osborne Culver was born in South Bundalong Victoria in 1891 to Robert & Jane Culver. John was one of five children, his brothers being James, Robert and David and his sister Sarah. The family moved across to WA while John was still young and took up residence at 56 Chester Street South Fremantle. John was educated at Beaconsfield State School and after leaving took up work as a farmer.

Jack was a much-loved man in the district, active in sporting circles and a member of the Congregational Church.

On the 5^th October 1916 John went to the Perth recruitment office and offered his services to the AIF. He was accepted as fit with the medical officer finding him to be 5 feet 5 inches in height; weight of 120 lbs; chest measurement of 32-35 inches; fresh complexion; brown eyes and black hair. His religious denomination was Congregational.

John was initially allotted to No.94 Depot from the 14^th November 1916 to the 29^th December 1916. On the 30^th December he was allotted to the 24^th Reinforcements to the 11^th Battalion AIF. John trained with this group in WA through January 1917, however towards the end of the month they received their orders to embark. On the 29^th January 1917 John and his group embarked from Fremantle aboard the H.M.A.T. “Miltiades” and set sail for the long voyage to England. On the 27^th March 1917 they arrived in Devonport England and after disembarking were sent to the 3^rd Training Battalion at Durrington on the Salisbury Plains.

John was to spend four months in England training and it wasn’t until the 23^rd July 1917 that he departed from Southampton to France. Arriving at Le Havre on the 24^th July, John marched into the 1^st Australian Division Base Depot and stayed here till the 8^th August 1917. He left the Base on this date though was only officially taken on strength of the 11^th Battalion on the 11^th August 1917.

John served with the 11^th Battalion for the next few months and fought through the 11^th’s actions at the Third Battle of Ypres fortunately escaping wounds. On the 2^nd November 1917 John reported sick, though only had a day or two away from the battalion. He continued to serve with the 11^th through the Belgian winter as they held the line near Passchendaele and later Warneton.

On the 14^th January 1918 John was evacuated to hospital ill and spent a week resting at 1^st Australian Field Ambulance. On the 21^st January he had returned to duty. The next few months were spent in Warneton region and the only break for John came on the 12^th March 1918 when he was granted leave to the UK for a period of two weeks. No doubt the leave was well spent and John returned to the 11^th Battalion on the 28^th March 1918. John would have come back to the news of the German breakthrough and while four Australian divisions had been sent south to the Somme, the 1^st Division had not yet moved. When they finally received their orders, they moved south and had just reached Amiens when news came through of a German breakthrough to the north. As a result the 1^st Division were put back on the trains and sent north to the region around Hazebrouck.

The 1^st Division helped to stop the German advance and then started to take back ground from the Germans. The 11^th Battalion were heavily involved around towns such as Merris and Meteren and they fought here from April till July 1918. In late July orders came through for them to rejoin the other Australians on the Somme in preparation for a large advance. This assault, called the Battle of Amiens, was launched on August 8^th 1918 and was very successful in routing the Germans. The 11^th Battalion became involved from August 9^th though their main attack would take place on August 10^th at Lihons. Unfortunately the Germans had the ground swept by heavy machine gun fire and the ranks of the 11^th Battalion were ripped to shreds. Casualties were heavy with many being killed and wounded. John was among the wounder being hit by bullets in the neck and mouth. Taken back to 5^th Field Ambulance and then the 53^rd Casualty Clearing Station, John was evacuated further back to the 12^th US General Hospital at Rouen France. Unfortunately the wounds proved too severe to recover from and John died of his wounds on the 16^th August 1918. He was buried in St Sever Cemetery in Rouen in plot R.II.I.16.

Many thanks to Dennis Morgan, the Great Nephew of John Osborne Culver, for sharing John's photo and story.