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Private JOHN ADOLPHUS QUINTRELL 32nd Bn, Australian Infantry, A.I.F. who died on Saturday, 1st September 1917. Remembered with honour VILLERS-BRETONNEUX MEMORIAL, Somme, France.
In the perpetual care of the Commonwealth Graves Commission John
Adolphus
Quintrell was born on the 30th of June 1880, the 10th child and 6th
son of Stephen and Mary Ann. Before the war he had worked as a miner. When he
enlisted in Adelaide he was the only one of the 3 brothers to give his correct
age. Strangely he gave his mother's name as Mary Jane Quintrell. (His oldest
sister was in fact named Mary Jane) His
'description on enlistment ' was Age
35 years and 6 months Height
5 feet 4 1/2 inches Weight
134 Ibs Chest
Measurement
35-36 1/2 inches Complexion
Dark Eyes
Brown Hair
Dk Brown Religious
Denomination Methodist He
like his brothers signed the oath to serve his 'Sovereign Lord the King` OATH
TO BE TAKEN BY PERSON
BEING
ENLISTED*. I,
John Adolphus Quintrell swear that I will well and truly serve our
Sovereign Lord the King in the Australian Imperial Force from Dec 30, 1915
until the end of the War, and a further period of four months thereafter
unless sooner lawfully discharged, dismissed or removed therefrom; and that I
will resist His Majesty's enemies and cause His Majesty's peace to be kept
and maintained; and that I will in all matters pertaining to my service,
faithfully discharge my duties according to law. SO
HELP ME GOD. [signed]
C.H. Quintrell Taken
and subscribed at Adelaide In
the State of South
Australia on this 30th
day of December 1915, before me [signature
of attesting officer] *A
person enlisting who objects to taking an oath may make an affirmation in
accordance with the Third schedule of the Act and the above form must be
amended accordingly. All amendments must be initialed by the Attesting
Officer.
From
7-1-16 John was in B coy of the 2nd depot Battalion but on 16-1-16 he was
transferred to the 1st Depot Battalion. On March the 25th he left
Adelaide on H.M.A.T. Shorpshire[1]. His
problems began when he was in Egypt. He was admitted to the 3rd
A.G.H.
at Abbassia on June 1st apparently suffering from heart disease. On
June 8th he was in hospital at Heliopolis suffering from deafness. But the
next day he was transferred to the 14th Training battalion. His
health must have improved because on June 20th he left Alexandria on the 'Huntsend'
and 10 days later disembarked at Marseilles. He proceeded to join the 32nd
Battalion at Etaples on the 29th of July and a few days later was 'taken on
strength'. This poses the question—where was he for most of July? The letter
included in the story of Richard Quintrell says that the brothers were in the
same company. If this is correct then John must have fought in and survived
the Battle of Fromelles. But if he was already in the 32nd battalion, why did
he proceed to join that battalion 10 days after his brother was killed at
Fromelles? In
October 1916 the Australian 5th division, which had suffered so badly at
Fromelles, left Armentieres for the Somme, but by the time they reached the
area near Flers the autumn rains had arrived and had turned the battlefield
into a quagmire making any movement difficult. Despite the conditions attacks
were still made on the German positions. It
is from here on that John's records become for a time very confusing. On
the 23rd of November he was admitted to a Casualty Clearing Station
after being wounded and also suffering from debility. Later this report was
altered to 'sick not wounded'. Whatever the reason was for him being at the
casualty station he did not stay there for long because 4 days later he
rejoined his battalion. But by December the 11th he was in trouble
again and was back in a casualty station having been wounded. His fighting
days were over.
From
the Moonta Peoples Weekly Saturday December the 23rd 1916. I believe
that it refers to Jack's first reported wounding on November the 23rd. After
a few days in the hospital at Rouen he left France on the 'St Patrick' and by
the 23rd of December he was in hospital in England apparently suffering from
shrapnel wounds to his face, hands and left thigh and also from debility. His
records state "23.12.16
Adm 1St. Southern Gen. Hpl. Dudley Rd. Birmingham (Buried)" The
use of the word 'buried' bothered me until further research revealed what had
happened to him. He had been wounded but the wounds were superficial. His real
problems were caused by him having been buried in a shell explosion and he
suffered afterwards from shell shock and aphonia (the inability to speak).
Phonation never returned even under electric shock treatment by faradism and
galvanism [
] This information comes from a hospital record dated 13-3-1917 which
also describes his condition as 'general debility, aphonia, sleeps and eats
poorly, very costive (constipated), heaving cardiac, impulse tachycardia'. After
several weeks in the Birmingham hospital he was transferred to the 3rd
Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford. He remained there until April the 9th when he
was 'marched into' No 2 Depot at Weymouth. On July 21st he left for
Australia on the 'Euripides' but he was destined not to complete the journey. On
August the 26th he complained of great pain down the back of the neck and was
given Potassium Bromide and Mist Alba. Despite the treatment from the doctor
his condition deteriorated and he became very weak and vomited frequently. He
also developed severe jaundice. Despite the efforts of the doctor, at 10.45 pm
on the first day of September he died. The cause of death was given as 'acute
septic inflammation of the liver'. On
the next day he was buried at sea at latitude 41-11 south, longitude 54-9
east. Two
days after notifying the family of the death of Richard, the Rev Pemberton was
to call again at the Quintrell home on the 12th of September, with the tragic
news for Mary Ann that none of her soldier sons would be returning home. This
news item and the thanks notice appeared in the Peoples Weekly on Saturday
September 22nd
1917.
On
the 13th of November his mother was advised that that she had been granted a
pension of £2 per fortnight in addition to the same amount that she was
receiving for Clarence. At
the back of a large lawn at the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery is an
Australian Memorial. On the wall are the names of 10,797 Australians who have
no known grave. At the top of one panel is the name Pte J. A. Quintrell.
the
Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux on a foggy morning
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