Ancestor Details
Name of Ancestor: John Stanton Morgan
Ancestor's date of birth: 01/12/1875
Ancestor's date of death: 04/04/1918
Cause of Death: Died of Wounds - Villers Bretonneux - World War I - No. 2356 (36 Bn C Coy)
Service Number: 456
Colony or State of enlistment: NSW, Place of Enlistment: Sydney
Unit: NSW Imperial Bushmen and 3Bn Australian Commonwealth Horse
Rank attained in Boer War: LT, Date Effective: 1902
Highest Rank attained (if served after war): CPL, Date Effective: 12/01/1917
Murray Page: 94 and 177
Contingent: Fourth New South Wales, Second Australian
Ship: Armenia, Date of Sailing: 23/04/1900
Ship: Manhattan, Date of Sailing: 01/05/1902
Memorial details: Grave 144 Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, France
Decorations: Queen's South Africa Medal with Clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Rhodesia. King's South Africa Medal with clasp 1901. 1916-18 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Personal Characteristics: Height: 1.66 m, Weight: 57 kg (1916)
Reasons to go and fight: Seeking adventure and service
Details of service in war: Boer War served as a corporal telegraph operator with the NSW Imperial Bushmen. April 1900 - April 1901 in Rhodesia, west Transvaal including defence of Elands River Post (4-16 August 1900), in northern Transvaal, great De Wet hunt (February - March 1901) and advance on Petersburg. The third battalion Australian Commonwealth Horse did not see action in South Africa; hiw WW1 service record notes him as serving as acting adjutant of the 7th ACH.
Service and life after the Boer War: Journalist/columnist pen-name Fandango for the "Sydney Sportsman" newspaper. He served in the militia, his WW1 service record notes four years service in the Engineers. By 1916 he was married to Laura and living at Balmain East NSW. He joined the AIF on 28 February 1916 and joined 36 bn in France on 8 September 1917. Was wounded and died in action on 4 April 1918 at Villers Bretonneux. His wounds were received in the prelude to the turning-point battle near the town of Villers Brettoneux in northern France, where Australian forces are credited with turning back the final German advance in the 1914-1918 war. He was interred at Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux.
Descendant Details
Name of Descendant: William Frank Brunsdon, Toowoon Bay NSW
Relationship to Ancestor: Grandson
