| Regimental number | 1963 |
| Place of birth | Rapley Farm, Broadford Budgo, Billingshurst, England |
| Place of birth | Sussex, England |
| School | Basingstoke Grammar School and York Place School, Brighton, Sussex, England |
| Age on arrival in Australia | 18 |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Occupation | Labourer |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 19 |
| Next of kin | Father, John Halt McDonald, 4 Stanford Avenue, Hassocks, Sussex, England |
| Enlistment date | |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 25th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/42/2 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A55 Kyarra on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Corporal |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 25th Battalion |
| Recommendations (Medals and Awards) |
Mention in Despatches 'For courage in organising and leading sections through a narrow gap in the enemy wire in the attack on Pozieres ridge.' Killed in Action. Recommendation date: |
| Other details from Roll of Honour Circular | He was selected as the best scout in Sussex to fill a vacancy for a sholarship at Baden Powell's Farm School for Scouts at Buckhurst Wadhurst, Sussex. He was Major of this training school within 18 months of his entering it. It will be remembered that this institution was run on "Commonwealth" lines. He also took part in the great ...exebition, Imperial Scout ... Birmingham (1913) where he took a First Class Diploma. (John Holy McDonald Father). |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Miscellaneous details (Nominal Roll) | Date of fate given on Nominal Roll as 20 July 1916. |
| Place of death or wounding | Pozieres, Somme Sector, France |
| Age at death | 20 |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 20 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | Australian 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 | 105 |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
