Victory Medal : Lance Corporal J A McDonnell, 6 Battalion, AIF

Victory Medal. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

John Albert McDonnell was born at Illabo, NSW, in 1897, doing his pre-war compulsory cadet service with 44 Battalion in country NSW. Married at a young age, McDonnell was working as a clerk in Albury, NSW prior to his enlistment in the AIF in July 1915. Posted as Private 3875 to 6 Infantry Battalion, he sailed with the 12th Reinforcements aboard the transport A40 ('Ceramic') in November 1915, arriving in Egypt too late to see service at Gallipoli. 6 Battalion moved to France in early 1916, its first major engagement being at Pozieres, on the Somme, in July. McDonnell died on 19 August of wounds received in the subsequent fighting around Mouquet Farm, and is buried at Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension.