Outdoor portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) John Darbyshire, 2nd Field Company Australian Engineers(2 ...

Outdoor portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) John Darbyshire, 2nd Field Company Australian Engineers(2 FCE). A railway surveyor from Eagle Junction, Queensland, prior to enlistment as 187 Sapper (Spr) Darbyshire he embarked with 2 FCE from Melbourne on 21 October 1914 aboard HMAT Orvieto (A3) for Egypt. The field company landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Spr Darbyshire was appointed Lance Corporal one month later and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt) and transferred to 1 FCE on 25 August 1915. In early October 1915 he was hospitalised with malaria and dysentery and evacuated to England via Malta and Gibraltar. In early December 1915 he was promoted to Lieutenant. After three months in England Lt Darbyshire was suffering from repeated bouts of malaria so he was evacuated back to Australia for continuing treatment and recuperation. In late September 1916 Lt Darbyshire had recovered from his illness and embarked with the FCE August 1916 Reinforcements from Sydney aboard HMAT Aeneas (A60) for Plymouth, England. He proceeded to France and joined 2 FCE near Albert, France. Lt Darbyshire was killed in action near Ypres on 20 September 1917 and is buried in the Hooge Crater Cemetery, Belgium. He was aged 23 years.