Private: 1834 John William MORRIS

35th BATTALION AIF

Private: 1834 John William MORRIS

Born: 1897. Belmore, New South Wales, Australia. Birth Cert:11120/1898.

Died: 25th May 1917. Armentieres, France.

Father: Frederick Morris. (1873-1957)

Mother: Margaret Jemima Morris. nee: Creek. (1874-1963)

INFORMATION

John William Morris enlisted with the AIF at the Royal Agricultural Show Ground, Sydney in April 1916 and was allocated to the 55th Battalion until the 5th of May when he was transferred to the Rutherford Camp where he was allocated to the 2nd Reinforcements 35th Battalion on the 6th of May and went into training.

Rutherford Army Camp 1916

John and the 2nd Reinforcements were transported to Farley Station where they en trained for Sydney on the 3rd of September 1916.

The 2nd Reinforcements embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A15 "Port Sydney" and disembarked at Plymouth, England on the 9th October 1916 and was marched in to the Durrington Army Camp at Larkhill. The Reinforcements settled down to hard training, which included Route Marching, Trench Digging, Bomb Practice, Musketry and General Camp Routine.

20th December 1917 the Reinforcements proceeded overseas for France on board S S "Princess Victoria" and disembarked the next morning at Etaples, France. He the Reinforcements went into billets before marching out to their units on the 26th January 1917 where they were Taken on in Strength with the 35th Battalion in the field.

John was Killed in Action on the 25th May 1917 and is remembered with honour and is commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at the Strand Military Cemetery. His service was conducted by Reverend J W DAINS.

Strand Military Cemetery

Johns Memorial Plaque was sold at action in March 2022 to a private collector and as the under bidder I was unable to secure for the Harrower Collection. His Memorial Plaque: 324877 was re listed for auction in April 2022 and I secured for the Harrower Collection. John's plaque was first issued to his father Frederick on the 21st August 1922 and nearly 100 years later it is now in the Harrower Collection.

Family Information

John was a single 19 year old Butcher from 119 George Street, Canterbury, N.S.W upon enlistment with the AIF. He served with Area 39B Cadets for 4 years. His parents Frederick and Margaret Morris were married at Canterbury, N.S.W. in 1895. Marriage Cert:6854/1895.