The AIF Project

John Betts LAWSON

Regimental number218
Place of birthFifeshire, Scotland
Place of birthEdentown, Fife, Scotland
SchoolDumikiln School, Kirkealdy, Fifeshire, Scotland
Age on arrival in Australia19
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationClerk
AddressOllbun, Townsville, Queensland
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation24
Next of kinMother, Mrs Annie Henderson Lawson, George Street, Stirling, Scotland
Enlistment date18 October 1915
Rank on enlistmentCQMS
Unit name41st Battalion, A Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/58/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A64 Demosthenes on 18 May 1916
Regimental number from Nominal RollCommissioned
Rank from Nominal RollLieutenant
Unit from Nominal Roll41st Battalion
Recommendations (Medals and Awards)

Military Cross


'Work near Hamel on 8 August 1918.'
Recommendation date: 13 August 1918

FateKilled in Action 29 September 1918
Miscellaneous details (Nominal Roll)*Stated to be John Bett Lawson on NR
Place of death or woundingHamel, France
Age at death26
Age at death from cemetery records26
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
134
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: William and Annie LAWSON, 8 Union Street, Stirling, Scotland
Medals

Military Cross

'For conspicuous gallantry in action. He led his platoon most ably, and during the advance he mounted a tank and entered a wood, mopping up a dug out and taking seventy prisoners. His determination to reach the objective was a splendid example to all.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 31
Date: 4 March 1919

Other detailsWar service: Western Front {Medals: Military Cross, British War Medal, Victory Medal

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