John Coleman (aka Jeffrey Law), 49th Infantry Battalion. The Queenslander Pictorial, 19 January 1918
Indigenous Australian, John Coleman (Jeffrey Law), 49th Infantry Battalion
John Coleman (aka Jeffrey Law) was born in Gayndah, in 1891 to Dave Law (known as Coleman) and Kate. He was working as a Jockey when he enlisted in Brisbane in November 1917.
Initially assigned to the 26th Battalion reinforcements, Coleman embarked from Sydney on board the troopship HMAT Ormonde in March 1918. He was admitted to the ships hospital during the voyage with measles, and when he arrived in Egypt was again admitted to hospital for further treatment before joining his comrades at the Australian Camp, Suez.
In May 1918 Coleman embarked for training in England where he was transferred to the 49th Infantry Battalion. He reached France in August 1918 where the battalion was operating near Sailley Le Sec during the August '100 days' offensive.
The 49th Battalion took part in the initial fighting around Bray, the following month on 18 September 1918, the Battalion undertook its final offensive action as part of the reserve during an attack against the Hindenburg Line.
Coleman was briefly attached to the Australian Army Services Corps after the armistice, between December 1918 and March 1918 and was returned home in October 1919.
Read more ...
- Service record: COLEMAN, John
- Embarkation roll: 21st Reinf. 26th Infantry Battalion
- 49th Infantry Battalion
- Image: The Queenslander Pictorial, 19 January 1918
- One of the soldiers featured in SLQ’s HistoryPin Collection
- Queensland’s Indigenous Servicemen Digital Story and Oral History [mp4, 12 mins]
The information in this blog post has been researched by State Library staff and volunteers, it is based on available information at this time. If you have more information that you would like to share or further research uncovers new findings, this post will be updated.
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