John Woods WHITTLE VC, DCM

WHITTLE, John Woods

Service Numbers: 347, 2902
Enlisted: 6 August 1915, Claremont, Tasmania
Last Rank: Sergeant
Last Unit: 12th Infantry Battalion
Born: Huon Island, Tasmania, Australia, 3 August 1882
Home Town: Rosebery, West Coast, Tasmania
Schooling: Unknown
Occupation: Soldier
Died: Cerebral Haemorrhage , Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2 March 1946, aged 63 years
Cemetery: Rookwood Cemetery & Crematorium
Memorials: Canberra John Hamilton VC Pictorial Honour Roll, Hobart Roll of Honour, Keith Payne VC Memorial Park, North Bondi War Memorial, Tasmanian Amateur Athletics Association, Winchelsea WWI Memorial
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Boer War Service

1 Oct 1899: Involvement Private, 347, 2nd Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen

World War 1 Service

6 Aug 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Claremont, Tasmania
27 Oct 1915: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2902, 26th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne
27 Oct 1915: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2902, 26th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: ''
22 Oct 1917: Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, 2902, 12th Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Robert Kearney

Whittle, John Woods (1882–1946)
by Stephen Allen

John Woods Whittle, soldier, was born on 3 August 1882 at Huon Island, near Gordon, Tasmania, son of Henry Whittle, labourer, and his wife Catherine, née Sullivan. John enlisted as a private in Tasmania's 4th (2nd Imperial Bushmen) Contingent which reached South Africa on 24 April 1901, saw action in the Cape Colony and returned to Tasmania in June 1902. Soon after, he enlisted in the Royal Navy and served for five years as a stoker before joining the Permanent Military Forces. On 23 July 1909 at the archbishop's house, Hobart, he married with Catholic rites Emily Margaret Roland; they were to have six children.

Transferring to the Australian Imperial Force on 6 August 1915, Whittle was given the rank of acting corporal and in October sailed as a reinforcement for the 26th Battalion. By April 1916 he was in France with the 12th Battalion. Wounded in action on 18 June, he was promoted sergeant in October. Early in 1917 he was involved in the fighting during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg line. At dawn on 27 February his battalion attacked the outpost villages of Le Barque and Ligny-Thilloy. On the left flank with Captain J. E. Newland's 'A' Company, Whittle bombed an enemy machine-gun post, forced the Germans to flee and won the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/whittle-john-woods-9088 (adb.anu.edu.au)

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