SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH
SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s
Name
Rank
John Lenard Alcorn
Private
Service Number
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron
2103
Date of Birth
1894
Place of Birth
Boonah
Family Details
Single
His next of kin were his father William Alcorn and his mother Elizabeth McKay.
4th Reinforcements, 25th Australian Infantry Battalion
This is a list of his brothers and sisters
DOB Name
Enlistment Date
1893 Alexander Cleveland Alcorn
N/A
1891 Franklin Edwin Alcorn
N/A
1900 David Livingston Haddon Alcorn
13 February 1918
1897 Elizabeth Petena Gunn Alcorn
N/A
1887 Ebenezer Cyril Alcorn
17 May 1915
1881 William Garnet Alcorn
N/A
1883 Margaret Ann Isabel Alcorn
N/A
1896 Jane Christina Alcorn
N/A
1889 Sidney Norman Alcorn
N/A
1884 George Evylin Alcorn
N/A
1886 Ernest Percy Alcorn
16 February 1918
Age at Enlistment
20
Place of Enlistment
Boonah
Date of Death
5 August 1916
Place of Death
Pozieres, France
Cemetery or
Memorial Name
Grave or Memorial
Number
PHOTO:
No photo available.
Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France
MR 26, Part I A-B
SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY:
Prepared by Robert Matthews
The Boonah War Memorial is small monument next to the primary school, and if examined closely there
seems to be an abundance of Alcorns on both the side of the survivors and of the fallen. This is a story of
brotherhood.
William Alcorn left Canada and set off for Australia, and when he arrived he moved to Blumbergsville. His
son, also William grew up here. His primary trade was baking. In 1881, he married Elizabeth McKay and by
1894 they had nine children, one named John Lenard, the other main protagonist. Despite the already
sizable family, four more children were to come.
The war changed many things in Australia. Blumbergsville got its name from German roots so, like many
other towns, the name was changed and the town became known as Boonah.
When war was declared John Alcorn signed up immediately, much to the distress of his younger sibling
David Livingston Alcorn, as the two had grown very close, and as David was only 14 at the time, he couldn’t
signup. John was first taken on strength and set off on the Ismailia. Soon though he travelled to Alexandria
then travelled to Marseilles in France.
After five months fighting on the Western Front, enduring trenches, shelling, machine gun fire, he sadly
was struck down. John Alcorn was killed in action in Pozieres, two days before the end of the battle. When
news reached home his brother David was heartbroken, his closest brother had died. As soon as he was of
age David signed up and along with another brother, Ernest, the two Alcorn siblings set off to honour their
fallen brother, John.
David and Ernest left Sydney in July 1918 onboard the HMAT Borda bound for training camps and the
battlefields. Before David could finished his training in England he was pulled aside to use his special skills
to work in the field bakery, supplying bread to all the troops.
The Alcorn family sent four brothers (John Lenard, David Livingstone Haddon, Ebenezer Cyril and Ernest
Percy) and one sister (Margaret Ann Isabel Alcorn) to fight, feed and nurse the wounded in World War 1.
John Lenard never returned and lies in Villers-Bretonneux cemetery.
This story of brothers just shows the unpredictable nature of war. But in the darkness of war virtues like
friendship and family don’t disappear, but shine brighter. And the brightness of the brotherhood shines
brightly in this tale.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Australian War memorial 2015, WM People Rolls, http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1918937/, NAA
(accessed 14 February 2015)
Haynes, R. 2010 “2386 ~ You Are Needed to Volunteer!” Boonah, Queensland, Australia
National Archives of Australia 2015, Item Details For: B2455, ALCORN J L
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3024074
(accessed 14 February 2015)
Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages 2015, Historical Birth Records,
https://www.bdm.qld.gov.au/IndexSearch/querySubmit.m?ReportName=BirthSearch,
(accessed 16 February 2015)
The Brisbane Courier 1918, "Recruits in Brisbane", 14 Feb, p.7.
The Queenslander 1917, "In Memorial" The Queenslander [Brisbane], 11 August, p10
The Queenslander 1920 "Troops from the Arneas", 15 January, p.4.