Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Gordon AUGHEY was born in June, 1889 in Port Pirie to Mr & Mrs John J AUGHEY who lived in WILMINGTON. John was married to Violet AUGHEY and they moved to 20 Ross Street, Port Melbourne, VICTORIA where John was employed as a Drover. They had a son also named John.

John was 5’11 ½“ tall, weighed 11 stone 7 pound and had a 40” chest. He had brown hair, a medium complexion and grey eyes. In proof of the hard work he had done he had scars on both knees and a deformed left forefinger, when he attended the recruitment centre on 27th March 1915. John specified that 3/5ths of his pay should be paid directly to his wife and child and was in camp shortly after. He embarked on H.M.A.T. EURIPIDES as part of the 24th battalion on 8th May 1915 as part of the Middle East Forces. (M.E.F.)  John was posted to the Australian Imperial Camel Corps as it was being raised on 29th January 1916. He excelled there and 24th February 1916 was promoted to Sergeant.

On 14th September 1916 he commenced travel for 3 months leave in AUSTRALIA. In doing so Johns rank was reverted to “Driver”. He returned to the M.E.F. on 11th March 1917 and rejoined the Camel Corps. By this time The Imperial Camel Corps were to be disbanded and all men to be transferred to the Australian Light Horse.  And on the 17th April was involved in the second Battle for Gaza. On 19th April, 1917 John was again promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He was now part of the 14th Australian Light Horse regiment.

On the 26th July 1918 John was promoted again, this time to Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant.

On October 10th John was involved in fighting at Damascus. 

"In a letter from Lieutenant R. B. Love, of the 14th Light Horse Regiment, to Mrs. J. G. Aughey in 1919, Lieut. Love described the circumstances of the death of her husband, which occurred at Damascus that day; Lieutenant Love wrote that at the time he had one of the leading troops with him. They had entered Damascus, and obtained the surrender of several hundred Turks and Germans, who were sent back with a portion of the troop. Lieutenant Love, Sergeant Aughey, Trooper Vigars, and two members of a French Cavalry regiment went forward, met a mob of Turks and ordered them to surrender and give up their weapons. Then, "without any reason the Frenchmen fired their revolver into the crowd. The Turks immediately retaliated, killing all the Allied party except Lieutenant Love, who was seriously wounded. Lieutenant Love remarked:— "Please allow me to offer my sympathy for the loss of such a gallant man as your husband was. He was an excellent sergeant, a brave soldier, and a good fellow. At the capture of Zalbus I recommended Sergeant Aughey for the good work he did with the advance guard. He died bravely doing his duty, and gave his life that the enemy might be beaten and Australia, and all that we love there, might be kept safe." - from the Adelaide Advertiser 07 Jan 1919 (nla.gov.au)

Love was shot through the hand and lung and had his horse shot from under him. John's body was recovered early next day and was buried in a well attended service in Damascus.

It was said that Violet never recovered from losing John Snr and she died on 01 Apr 1939 having never remarried.

The Australian Imperial Camel Corp now known as the 14th Australian Light Horse had the following battle honours by the wars end. Romani, Magdhaba–Rafah, Egypt 1915–1917, Gaza–Beersheba, El Mughar, Nebi Samwill, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Jericho, Jordan (Es Salt), Jordan (Amman), Megiddo, Nablus, and Palestine, Syria 1917–1918

John AUGHEY is buried at the Damascus Commonwealth War Cemetery. He is commemorated on the Australian War Memorial on the Roll of Honour.  John is also commemorated on the Honour Roll at The WILMINGTON Soldiers Memorial Hall.

John Gordon Aughey was born in June, 1889 in a little South Australian town called Port Pirie. Port Pirie is roughly located 230 kilometers away from South Australia’s larger capital, Adelaide. John’s parents Mr & Mrs Aughey lived in Wilmington, a short distance from Port Pirie and enrolled John at Wilmington Public School. After completing school John married a young girl called Violet. They moved together to Port Melbourne in Victoria. Shortly after moving they had a child which they named John. While living in Port Melbourne, John was employed as a drover. Due to the hard work John had completed while being a stockman, he had many scars on his knees, a scar on his right arm and a deformed left forefinger. John was described as being 5’11” tall, having brown hair and grey eyes. (VWM, National Archives of Australia)
On the 27th March 1915, John attended the War Recruitment Centre in Melbourne. John was recruited for World War 1 and his Service Record Number is 27. (VWM, National Archives of Australia)
John embarked on his war adventure on the 8th of May, 1915. He was only 25 years old and left behind a wife and child. John was a part of the 24th Battalion. The Battalion was part of the Middle East Forces. He only served a short amount of time in the 24th Battalion before he was transferred to the Australian Imperial Camel Corps. After not even one year of being in the Camel Corps, John was promoted to Sergeant on the 24th of February 1916. He was only Sergeant for 7 months when on the 14th of September 1916 he was granted leave for 3 months to return to Australia to visit his wife and child. When returning to war, John’s rank lowered and he was now no longer a Sergeant, but a Driver. John returned on 11th March 1917 and re-joined the Camel Corps but only for a short time before the Camel Corps were abandoned and every man who was in the Camel Corps was now transferred to the Australian Light Horse. He was now part of the 14th Australian Light Horse Regiment. (VWM)
John was admitted to hospital for malaria on the 29th April 1918 and returned to duty on the 31st of May. After John was released from hospital, his leadership skills were rewarded and on the 26th July, 1918 John was promoted again but this time to Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant in the Australian Light Horse. (Anzac Portal, National Archives of Australia). After serving with the Australian Light Horse for over a year John was involved in fighting at Damascus on October 10th, 1918. They had hundreds of Turkish and German soldiers who had surrendered. An excerpt from the Adelaide Advertiser indicated that John, Lieutenant Love, Trooper Vigars and 2 members from French Cavalry regiment went to meet the Turkish and Germans to advise them to surrender and hand over their weapons. It was going well but with no warning the 2 Frenchmen fired their revolver into the surrounding crowd of Turkish and German soldiers immediately causing them to retaliate and kill 4 of the 5 involved men, one of those men was John. (VWM, Trove)