Elsen, John Thomas
No.423 – Private John Thomas Elsen – 1st Battalion AIF
John Thomas Elsen was born in Fremantle WA in 1884. There is not much information known about his early life in Western Australia though he was working as a Plumber. Prior to the war he went across to New South Wales for work. On the 2nd September 1914 at Kensington NSW John enlisted into the AIF. He was passed as fit and was found to be 5 feet 6 ½ inches tall; weight of 10 stone 4; chest measurement of 36-38 inches; medium complexion; blue eyes and dark hair. His religious denomination was Church of England.
John was assigned to the 1st Battalion AIF with the regimental no.423. He trained with them in NSW until 18th October 1914 when they boarded the H.M.A.T. “Afric” in Sydney Harbour. John’s ship as part of the First AIF convoy stopped off in Albany on their way to Egypt. The ships of the First convoy eventually departed and made their way to Egypt. After arriving the men were disembarked and put into camp at Mena near Cairo. They were to spend the next few months here training.
In April 1915 the 1st Battalion left Alexandria Harbour and made their way to Lemnos Island where they had a few more weeks of training. The 3rd Brigade had been tasked with making the initial landing on the Turkish Coast but they would be supported by men of the 1st & 2nd Brigades. The 3rd Brigade landed on the rugged coastline and made their way inland but their gain was very slight. The men of the other Brigades landed and instead of advancing were fighting a desperate defensive battle against the Turkish forces.
Sometime between the landing on April 25th and when the remainder of the 1st Battalion had a roll call on May 2nd, John Elsen had been killed. No eyewitness could be found to shed any light on his disappearance and he was initially posted as missing. No news came in as a Prisoner of War and in 1916 the army authorities changed his missing status to ‘killed in action’.
John Thomas Elsen is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial.