Sliver Identity disc : Brigadier General J M Antill, 3rd Australian Lighthorse Brigade, AIF

Identity disc inscribed with 'BRIG. GEN. J. M. ANTILL 3RD A.L.H. BRIG. A.I.F. C.of E.'. The disc has been made from an (Ottoman) Egyptian silver 20 Kurus coin.

This identity disc, made from a Turkish coin, relates to the service of then Brigadier General (later Major General) John Macquarie Antill, Commander of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade at Gallipoli.

Antill was born in Picton, New South Wales on 26 January 1866 and educated at Sydney Grammar. He was a member of the school cadet unit and later became a qualified surveyor. He joined a local militia unit in New South Wales during 1887 and two years later raised a Squadron of Mounted Infantry at Picton. This Squadron later formed part of the New South Wales Mounted Rifles (NSWMR) and whilst a member of this unit he was commissioned as a captain in 1889. In 1893 he was temporarily attached to the British Army in India, with which he served with the 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment and the 2nd Dragoon Guards. Antill was commissioned into the NSW permanent forces as a Captain after his return to Australia in 1894.

Promoted to Major he saw service in the Boer War from late 1899 as the Officer Commanding of 'A' Squadron of the NSWMR and later as the Second in Command of the 2nd NSWMR. For his service in South Africa he was made a brevet Lieutenant Colonel, twice Mentioned in Dispatches and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Antill served as the Aide de Camp to the Governor General, Henry Northcote between 1904 and 1906 before retiring from the Army and returning to Picton. In 1911 he returned to the Army as the Commandant of Instructional Staff Schools.

With the start of the First World War and formation of the AIF he was appointed Brigade Major to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade in October 1914. He saw service on Gallipoli from May 1915 and made temporary commander of the Brigade just after the disastrous August Offensive where his Brigade saw heavy losses at The Nek. In September 1915 he was formally made commanding officer of the Brigade until the end of the campaign in December 1915. On 11 December he was Mentioned in Despatches; and for his work in organising the orderly and safe evacuation of troops on the 18 to 20 December, where he was the senior officer, he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St John.

Returning with the 3rd Light Horse Brigade to Egypt, on 1 January 1916 Antill was promoted to colonel. The Brigade spent January and February in training before commencing operations in the Sinai in March, and were sent to reinforce the Anzac Mounted Division. In late August he proceeded to France and on 16 September he was transferred to the command of the 2nd Infantry Brigade in Belgium and on the Somme. Soon after, in November, he was evacuated to England with bronchitis and relinquished command.

After his recovery in March 1917, Antill took command of the 16th Infantry Brigade which was formed on the Salisbury Plain, but due to declining enlistments in Australia the brigade was disbanded (some in May and some in October) without ever being engaged in operations.

Antill returned to Australia, arriving in October 1917, and his appointment with the AIF ended in December when his service was 'no longer required'. He spent the remainder of the war in instructional duties. He retired with the honorary rank of major general in 1924 and died on 1 March 1937.