Pte
John Henry Crompton

Informatie over geboorte

Geboortedatum:
04/11/1875
Geboorteplaats:
Lowthorpe, Yorkshire, Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk

Algemene Informatie

Beroep:
Landbouwer

Informatie legerdienst

Land:
Australië
Strijdmacht:
Australian Imperial Force
Rang:
Private
Service nummer:
73
Dienstneming datum:
06/12/1915
Dienstneming plaats:
Brisbane, Queensland, Australië
Eenheden:
 —  Australian Infantry, 42nd Bn.  (Laatst gekende eenheid)

Informatie over overlijden

Datum van overlijden:
04/10/1917
Plaats van overlijden:
Alma - Brigade Hof, Zonnebeke, België
Doodsoorzaak:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Leeftijd:
41

Gedenkplaats

Onderscheidingen en medailles 3

1914-15 Star
Medaille
British War Medal
Medaille
Victory Medal
Medaille

Points of interest 3

#1 Geboorteplaats
#2 Dienstneming plaats
#3 Plaats van overlijden (bij benadering)

Mijn verhaal

John Henry Crompton was a 41-year-old farmer from Elimbah, Queensland who was killed during the Battle of Passchendeale. John was born in 1875 in England in the hamlet of Lowthorpe, East Riding of Yorkshire. With no hope of inheriting the family tenancy he immigrated to Canada in 1906, where he went homesteading in Alberta. Not even a decade later John worked and lived in Australia. Adventurous as he was John enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in late 1915. By the Battle of Passchendaele he served as a Private with the 42nd Battalion of the Australian Infantry, part of the 11th Brigade, of the 3rd Australian Division.

On 4 October 1917 the 42nd Battalion took part in the attack on the Broodseinde Ridge. Their assembly point was located between Hill 40 and the Zonnebeke station on the Ypres-Roulers railroad. The attack began at 6 a.m. John’s Battalion advanced behind the 43rd Australian Infantry. Forty minutes later the 42nd Battalion leapfrogged through the 43rd and moved towards Thames. The Germans were caught off guard and John’s Battalion captured the fortified positions at Alma and Thames without much fighting. After the line at Thames had been consolidated, the 44th Battalion moved through, continuing the attack on the ridge. Though the men didn’t met much resistance along the way, the German artillery heavily shelled the advance. Most casualties were sustained due to shell fire. Casualties were especially high when a barrage caught the advance in Thames Wood.

According to his Red Cross Wounded and Missing File, John was wounded near Thames, while consolidating the position. He was evacuated on a stretcher by two German prisoners. When the party reached a trench near Alma, a shell exploded nearby, killing John and one of the stretcher-bearers. The remains of both men remains were buried on the side of the railway. But John’s grave went lost in the later duration of the war and he is now remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.

Bestanden 2

Bronnen 8

AIF-Project
https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/index.html
Gebruikte bronnen
Ancestry
https://www.ancestry.com/
Verdere verwijzing
Australian War Memorial
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10330341
Gebruikte bronnen
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1598580/crompton,-john-henry/
Gebruikte bronnen
John Henry Crompton
http://www.rgcrompton.info/crompton/1805info8.html
Gebruikte bronnen
State Library of Queensland.
https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/
Gebruikte bronnen
The Long, Long Trail
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/
Gebruikte bronnen
War Diary King's Australian Infantry, 42nd Bn.
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583
Gebruikte bronnen