Can you help us identify John?

We would like to acknowledge the contributions to this story taken from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s website, Stories of the Fallen - Private John Hay Wishart 1004, written by Scott Wishart.

John Hay Wishart was the seventh of Helen (nee McNab) and John Hay Wishart’s thirteen children, seven boys and six girls. He was born on 14 February 1878 at 71 Dover Street in the Kelvin district of Glasgow. John’s father was a jointer (journeyman).

After John was born, the family moved to Darvel, 45 km south of Glasgow and were living at 87 East Main Street. The 1891 census shows John and eight siblings living at 10 West Main Street. John attended the Darvel Primary School, which was just a short distance from their house.

John went on to become a teacher and when he was 21 he decided to emigrate to Australia, sailing from London to Sydney on 31 March 1899 on the RMS Orizaba. John eventually settled in Wallsend, near Newcastle, New South Wales. He lived on Nelson Street and worked as a dispenser for Dr H. K. Bean, a medical officer at the Wallsend Hospital.

While he lived in Wallsend for a number of years, he did not marry.

With his UK background and the War recruiting efforts well underway in Australia, John visited the Liverpool Sydney recruiting office in Sydney on 10 July 1915 and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. As he had a medical background, John listed ‘ambulance’ as a qualification on his attestation papers. He also informed the recruiting officer that he was 34 years old when he was 37, not an unusual practice for the ‘older’ recruits.

While he had medical experience, he was posted to ‘D’ Coy of the newly formed 30th Infantry Battalion on 1 August and sent for training in Liverpool, NSW. On 2 September, John’s unit were moved from Liverpool to the Royal Agricultural Society Grounds in Moore Park, Sydney. There were numerous reports about the 30th in the papers.

Two months later, the battalion, which consisted of 30 officers and 971 other ranks, sailed from Sydney on 9 November, headed to Egypt on board the HMAT Beltana. After the month-long trip, the ship anchored at Suez. They disembarked three days later, caught the train to Helmieh and marched to Aerodrome Camp in Heliopolis.

John’s first seven weeks were spent at Ferry Post guarding the Suez Canal and continuing military training. February and March were at the camp at Tel el Kebir, where they were inspected by H.R.H. Prince of Wales.

For much of April and May they were back in Ferry Post, including some time in the front-line trenches there. There were the usual complaints of the heat, water supplies and flies.

John’s battalion left Egypt for the Western Front on 16 June 1916 on HMAT Hororata, arriving in Marseilles on 23 June. After landing, there was a 60+ hour train ride to Hazebrouck, 30 km from Fleurbaix. They arrived on 29 June and were encamped in Morbecque.

Private F.R. Sharp (2134) wrote home about the trip:

Training now included the use of gas masks and they also would have heard the heavy artillery from the front lines. On 8 July they were headed to the front lines, 20 km to Estaires and then 11 km to Erquinghem, where they were billeted at Jesus Farm. They got their first ‘taste’ of being in the front lines at 9.00 PM on 10 July.

A week later, they got orders for an attack, but it was postponed due to the weather, but on 19 July, the 30th Battalion were into battle. The 30th Battalion’s role was to provide support for the attacking 31st and 32nd Battalions by digging trenches and providing carrying parties for supplies and ammunition. They would be called in as reserves if needed for the fighting.

The 32nd’s charge over the parapet began at 5.53 PM and the 31st’s at 5.58 PM. There were machine guns emplacements to their left and directly ahead at Delrangre Farm and there was heavy artillery fire in No-Man’s-Land. The initial assaults were successful and by 6.30 PM the Aussies were in control of the German’s 1st line system (Trench B in the diagram below), which was described as “practically a ditch with from 1 to 2 feet of mud and slush at the bottom”.

Source: AWM4 23/49/12, 32nd Battalion War Diaries, July 1916, page 11

John’s company had initially been assigned the job of repairing communications and escorting prisoners. While their role was to be in support, commanders on scene made the decision to use the 30th as much-needed fighting reinforcements. When the 30th was formally called to provide fighting support at 10.10 pm, Lieutenant-Colonel Clark reported:

Fighting continued through the night. The Australians made a further charge at the main German line beyond Trench B, but they were low on grenades, there was machine gun fire from behind from the emplacement at Delangre Farm and they were so far advanced that they were getting shelled by both sides.

At 4.00AM the Germans began an attack from the Australian’s left flank, bombing and advancing into Trench A (map). Given the Australian advances that had been made earlier, portions of the rear Trench E had been left almost empty, which then enabled the Germans to be in a position to surround the soldiers.

At 5.30 AM the Germans attacked from both flanks in force and with bombing parties. Having only a few grenades left, the only resistance the 31st could offer was with rifles:

The ultimate total was that 122 soldiers of the 30th Battalion were either killed or died from wounds and of this total 80 were missing/unidentified.

John survived the main battle. C.E.W. Bean, in his Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918, gave details of John’s role in the battle.

He goes on to write in a footnote:

The 30th Battalion immediately after the fight was sent to reserve, but Krinks and his three companions returned to the trenches as soon as it was dusk, and, taking a stretcher, went out into No-Man’s Land to find their comrades. In this they succeeded and were bringing in Wells on a stretcher when a sentry of their own brigade, catching sight of their figures, fired, killing Wishart and Watts with a single shot.”

There were four Red Cross Witness statements about this incident.

Thomas Watts’ body was initially buried at the military cemetery near the dressing station and was reburied later in the Rue Petillon Military Cemetery. The Red Cross report cites that John died while being taken to the dressing station, but, surprisingly, given the details of his actions from the rescue, there are no records of him being buried.

John’s body has never been found. John Spooner, a cousin of John’s, wrote - Wishart, Watts and Wells had joined up together and had consecutive service numbers. Forbes was from the same town as Wishart and also enlisted on the same day. There were obviously very close bonds of friendship. Captain J. Chapman described John and Thomas Watts:

While John had no family in Wallsend, he was clearly respected in the community.

John was awarded the 1914-15 Star Medal, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal, a Memorial Plaque and a Memorial Scroll.

He is commemorated on Panel 3 of the V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial in Fromelles, the Darvel War Memorial in Scotland, and the Wallsend WW1 Roll of Honor in New South Wales.

After the battle, German soldiers removed 250 Australian casualties from the battlefield, burying them in a large pit near Pheasant Wood. This mass grave was not discovered until 2008. Identification by DNA matching has been ongoing since that discovery as potential relatives have been able to located.

To date (2024), 170 of the 250 soldiers from the grave have been identified, including 26 of the 80 missing soldiers from the 30th Battalion. While John was not killed in the advanced lines, he still remains unidentified. Contact is especially sought with descendants of John’s siblings, who perhaps may still be living in or near Darvel, Scotland.