| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | PR00035 |
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | Extent: 1 cm; Wallet/s: 1 |
| Object type | Letter |
| Maker |
Sloan, John James |
| Place made | At sea, Egypt, Ottoman Empire: Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, United Kingdom: England |
| Date made | 1915 |
| Access | Open |
| Related File This file can be copied or viewed via the Memorial’s Reading Room. | AWM371 92/0113 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Sloan, John James (Staff Sergeant-Major, b.1873 - d.1961)
Description
Collection relating to the First World War service of 672 Staff Sergeant-Major John James Sloan, 4th Infantry Battalion, Gallipoli, at sea, Egypt, England, 1915.
Collection consists of 12 photocopied typed letters from Sloan home to his family during 1915. Sloan enlisted from Sydney in September 1914 and embarked the following month on HMAT Euripides for Egypt. Following training, he was part of the force that landed on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. His battalion took part in the defence of the beachhead. In June, suffering shell shock, he was transferred firstly to hospital in Egypt, then England. He was discharged from hospital in September 1915 and invalided to Australia.
The letters describe the landing and first few days, German artillery, Turkish attacks, armistice of May 24, sinking of the Triumph, snipers, fatigue duties, mail, promotion, his evacuation with illness to Lemnos and England. He comments on social rank, potential for revolution in Australia, Labor Party, despatches of Bean and Ashmead Bartlett, war profiteering, and having lunch with British Prime Minister Asquith and his wife.