Higham, John Charles
7486 Private John Charles Higham - 11th Battalion AIF
John Charles Higham was born in Paynesville Victoria on the 14th March 1890 to George and Mary Higham, had two brothers George 1889 and Albert 1892. After his birth the family moved to South Australia before heading to WA. they initially took up residence in Perth, before moving to Fremantle. John had lived in Suffolk Street prior to the Great War and was working with his brother Albert as a boat builder.
On the 4th January 1915 John married Elsie Cordelia Toy and they had a son John that had been born in 1914.
They lived at 133 South Terrace before moving to Cantonment Street.
On the 13th March 1917 in Fremantle Albert and his brother John, both enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. Albert was found to be fit for enlistment, with the medical examiner recording John's physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 4 & 1/4 inches tall;
Weight - 133lbs;
Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Brown;
Hair - Light Brown.
Upon his successful enlistment Albert and John were sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was assigned to the 25th reinforcements to the 11th battalion AIF. They trained in WA for the next few months.
On the 29th June 1917 Albert and John with their reinforcement group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship HMAT Borda. The ship then set sail for England, reaching Plymouth on the 25th August 1917.
After being disembarked, Albert and John were sent to the 3rd Training Battalion at Durrington Camp on the Salisbury Plains. John had knee issues early on in the training and was sent to Fargo Military Hospital for a week of recuperation.
On the 7th September 1917 John returned to camp to resume training. On the 7th November 1917 he as transferred to the 2nd Training Battalion at Sutton Veny. He would train here for a further two months before being sent to France.
On the 30th January 1918 Albert left Southampton England and proceeded across to France where he initially spent a few days at the Australian Infantry Base Depot Camp at Le Havre. Albert was then taken on strength of the 11th battalion on the 5th February 1918.
The 11th battalion were then in Belgium, helping to hold the front line south east of Ypres, between Hollebeke and Messines.
John spent the next two months with the 11th Battalion on front line service. On the 19th March 1918 he was evacuated sick with rheumatism and influenza. He was sent to the 10th Canadian Stationary Hospital at Calais. After also being diagnosed with bronchitis John was sent to the 26th General Hospital.
It took John a long time to recover and he was in hospital and the convalescent depots in France for the next few months. John eventually rejoined the 11th Battalion on the 26th August 1918.
The 11th battalion were then participating in the advance against the Germans. When he rejoined his unit the Australians had reached the Somme River around Peronne.
On the 18th September 1918 John was wounded when the 11th battalion were in action near Jeancourt. He had been shot in the leg and thigh, causing a fracture in his femur, and after treatment at the Field Ambulance was evacuated to the 8th General Hospital at Rouen. The wound was severe and John was in hospital in France till the 13th October 1918. He was then shipped to England and was admitted to a Military Hospital at Shepherds Bush London.
John would be a patient here for the next four months. On the 20th March 1919 he was transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford. On the 15th April 1919 John was then sent to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth to await being assigned a berth on a troopship home.
On the 16th June 1919 John boarded the transport ship Ormonde and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 24th July 1919. After being disembarked John was then sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle for further treatment on his wound.
John was discharged from the AIF on the 15th July 1920.
After his return home, John and Elsie, would have more children, with George in 1921, John in 1925, Stanley in 1927, Ronald 1933 and Eileen.
The family then moved back to South Terrace, in 1925 moving to 35 Essex Street, before returning to 133 South Terrace in the 1930's.
Prior to World War Two the family had moved to 62 Mandurah Road South Fremantle.
John served again in World War Two and was given the service number W18641. He would work in the Stationary Department of Western Command HQ in Perth from 1942-1946.
While he was in the army the family moved to North Perth.
John died on the 1st February 1955 aged 65. He was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery.