Regimental number: 4127 Rank: Private
Killed in Action (KIA) 30 August 1916
John Grayson was born in about 1881 Meringandan, near Toowoomba, Queensland. He married Amelia Addicott in 1901 and their children attended Bulimba School.
John was a 33 year old timber-getter and carpenter when he enlisted on 18 September 1915 in Brisbane. The family lived in Church Street, Bulimba. He had served in South Africa during the Boer War. John was assigned to the 25th Battalion as a Private. He allocated four-fifths of his pay to his wife.
John embarked on 28 March 1916 on “HMAT Commonwealth” A73 from Brisbane disembarking in England. He transferred to France on 25 July 1916. John was “Killed in Action” in France a month later on 30 August 1916 aged 34 years and is commemorated on the Villiers-Bretonneau War Memorial (Memorial Panel 104).
On 6 July 1917 the army sent Amelia one package of John’s personal effects which contained “a letter, a tin box, a razor blade box, a metal brooch, a bullet, a tin containing 24 badges, 24 foreign coins, a button, wristlet watch and a scarab.”
John’s family were entitled to receive his British War and Victory Medals.
A memorial scroll was sent to John’s family on 8 December 1921 and a memorial plaque on 23 June 1922. The Grayson family continued their association with Bulimba.
