Topic: AIF - Aboriginal LH
Education Centre
The Australian Light Horse Studies Centre in conjunction with the various Education authorities in Australia, has embarked upon producing a program of instruction targeted initially towards the Later Adolescence band of scholars, characteristically those who are studying in Year 9 and 10 within Australia. Each lesson will be a self contained module. Some will be more difficult than others and graded accordingly.
Lesson 11 Aboriginal Light Horsemen
Resource - Light Horseman Service Record - Essential Pages
2430 Pte John Johnston, 11th Light Horse Regiment, 20th Reinforcement
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The front cover of the Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad provides the reader with the following information:
- Service Number,
- Surname,
- Given Names,
- Age,
- Employment,
- Married or Single,
- Next of Kin Relationship,
- Next of Kin Name and Address,
- Enlistment Date.
This information is vital as it identifies the specific soldier and in case of death or injury, allows the relatives to be informed. The next of kin was important for another reason. Each soldier was compelled to give an allotment of their daily wage to the person nominated as the next of kin. This was an essential financial consideration.
Once this information was gathered, the second page dealt with an oath to the King. The next page to give information was page 3.
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The third page of the Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad provides the reader with the following information:
- Age,
- Height,
- Weight,
- Chest Measurement
- Complexion,
- Eyes,
- Hair,
- Religion.
The health of the potential soldier was important as the life was particularly strenuous. The ability to carry heavy weights for great distances was most important.
The next form that is most common in the Service File is the B103, the Casualty Form - Active Service. Every movement of the soldier is recorded. The reasons for this are fourfold.
1. The location of the soldier at any one time was essential to establish where his rations were to be drawn.
2. The form established the entitlements to drawing pay at a particular level. A soldier in the field was allowed to draw pay but when in hospital was not allowed to draw their pay as it was considered that everything to assist the soldier's recovery was provided.
3. By tracking the movements of the soldier, it allowed early detection of desertion if that were to occur.
4. At the end of the war, the chronology of this form was used as the basis for post war entitlements such as medals, pensions, repatriation assistance, access to hospitals and any other service available for an ex-serviceman for the rest of his life.
The B103 may be as simple as one sheet or multiple sheets. It depended upon the individual serviceman.
To assist in understanding this particular form in relation to the men from the 11th LHR, Lesson 11 Resource, a list of terms and names are available at the Index to Common B103 Terms. The link is below.
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The front of the B103, the Casualty Form - Active Service provides the reader with the following information:
- Regiment
- Rank on Enlistment,
- Terms of Enlistment,
- Embarkation Date,
- Embarkation Port,
- Embarkation Ship,
- Date Taken on Strength.
- Chronology,
- Fate,
- Date.
The B103, the Casualty Form - Active Service indicates that 2430 Pte John Johnston was killed in action on 1 June 1918. To find the details of the incident which resulted in his death, the unit War Diary is necessary. Below is the specific entry for that particular day from the War Diary of the 11th Light Horse Regiment, 1 June 1918.
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[From: AWM4, 10/16/33 - June 1918]
At 4pm, 1 June 1918, the Turkish artillery sent two shells amongst a group of horse being led by the horseholders, possibly for the purposes of watering them. 2430 Pte John Johnston was badly wounded by the shelling and removed to the 4th Light Horse Field Ambulance for care. It was here that he died.
Once the B103, the Casualty Form - Active Service was completed due to the expiration of service, any transactions during subsequent to service were recorded on a flimsey called Transferred to Australian Imperial Force D and it was here that all post service information was maintained.
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Page 1 of the Transferred to Australian Imperial Force D provides the reader with the following information:
- The last rank held in the AIF,
- The date of death,
- Contacts with the next of kin,
- The eligible medals awarded to the serviceman.
Information on this form depends upon the individual. This particular form can at times run into many pages.
One contact with the relatives of a deceased soldier was the words to be placed upon the tombstone.
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When the Australian Military Forces, 1st Military District, the medals belonging to 2430 Pte John Johnston were sent to his next of kin who was his mother.
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The medals could not be delivered and after exhausting all efforts to find the mother, the medals were returned unclaimed. This was by no means unusual. Over 30% of medals earned during the Great War in Australia were never claimed.
2430 Pte John Johnston, a brief military biography from The AIF Project:
John JOHNSTON
| Regimental number | 2430 |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Occupation | Station hand |
| Address | Oondooroo, Winton, Queensland |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 26 |
| Next of kin | Mother, Mrs Lucy Johnston, Spring Vale Station, Winton, Queensland |
| Enlistment date | 8 October 1917 |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 11th Light Horse Regiment, 20th Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 10/16/3 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A38 Ulysses on 19 December 1917 |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Private |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 11th Light Horse Regiment |
| Fate | Died of wounds 1 June 1918 |
| Place of burial | Jerusalem War Cemetery (Row H, Grave No. 23), Palestine |
| Roll of Honour | Panel number 8, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial |
Lest We Forget
Additional Research:
To understand the terms employed in the B103, the Casualty Form - Active Service, an index is available here:
For those interested in further study on this man, the following internet resources are available:
ADFA Summary - This is a cameo summary of his service record.
http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au:8080/showPerson?pid=155964
National Archives - This is the complete service file of 2430 Pte John Johnston
http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=1830102&I=1&SE=1
Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial carries two biographical data bases - the Embarkation Roll and the Nominal Roll which was closed in August 1919.
Embarkation details:
http://www.awm.gov.au/nominalrolls/ww1/embarkation/person.asp?p=42548
Nominal Roll:
http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/awm133/27/27-106.pdf
Further Reading:
Listing of Aboriginal Servicemen Biographies on this site
Reveille Articles on Aboriginals in the AIF
Citation: 2430 Pte John Johnston, 11th LHR, Lesson 11 Resource
