John Carroll (soldier)
{{Short description|Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use Australian English |date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= John Carroll
|image= John Carroll portrait.jpg
|image_size= 200
|alt=
|caption= John Carroll VC, in London, August 1918, shortly before returning to Australia.
|nickname=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1891|08|16|df=yes}}
|birth_place= Brisbane, Queensland
|death_date= {{death date and age|1971|10|04|1891|08|16|df=yes}}
|death_place= Perth, Western Australia
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= Australia
|branch= Australian Imperial Force
|serviceyears= 1916–18
|rank= Private
|unit=
|battles=
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|awards={{hlist
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|relations=
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John Carroll, VC (16 August 1891 – 4 October 1971) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was also known as Jack Carroll.{{cite news |title=Mystery remains unsolved as Victoria Cross hero's family searches for forgotten daughter |first=Jarrod |last=Lucas |date=2018-05-05 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-05/family-searches-for-victoria-cross-heros-forgotten-daughter/9726406 |access-date=28 April 2024 |quote=Known to everyone as Jack, Mr Carroll earned Australia's highest military honour [...].}}
Early life
Born in Brisbane, Queensland to Irish parents, Carroll moved to Western Australia while still a child. He worked as a labourer and railway guard before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force as a private in April 1916.
Military career
Joining the Australian 3rd Division, Carroll was originally a reinforcement for the Western Australian 44th Battalion before moving to the New South Wales 33rd Battalion in November 1916.{{cite web|url=http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/33243 |title=John Carroll – Discovering Anzacs |publisher=National Archives of Australia |accessdate=10 October 2014}}
On 7–12 June 1917 at St. Yves, Belgium, during the Battle of Messines, Private Carroll rushed the enemy's trench and bayoneted four of the occupants. He then noticed a comrade in difficulty and went to his assistance, killing another of the enemy. Next, he single-handedly attacked a machine-gun team, killing three of them and capturing the gun. Later, two of his comrades were buried by a shell; in spite of heavy shelling and machine-gun fire, he managed to rescue them.{{London Gazette|issue=30215|supp=y|pages=7906–7907|date=31 July 1917 }}
Carroll was later severely wounded at Passchendaele in October 1917. His rehabilitation was successful but after briefly returning to his unit, the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes, then in England, arranged for furlough to Australia for Victoria Cross recipients to help recruiting in Australia.
It has been claimed that Carroll failed on three occasions to appear at Buckingham Palace for his Victoria Cross award ceremony and when he did turn up on the fourth occasion he took advantage of one of the entitlements of VC recipients to call out the Palace Guard.Rex Clark, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070579b.htm "Carroll, John (1891–1971)"], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 572–573Ross McMullin. "One of a kind", Wartime Issue 29, 2005 These stories first appeared in the Perth Daily News on 2 November 1927, Note the story identifies as Jack Carroll- {{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article79515143 |title=V.C. Winner's Plight |newspaper=The Daily News |volume=XLVI |issue=16,384 |location=Western Australia |date=2 November 1927 |accessdate=27 April 2024 |page=1 (Home (Final) Edition) |via=National Library of Australia}} and the source of the story would seem to be Carroll himself. He related the story while he was in hospital after an industrial accident in which one of his feet was amputated. Just out of surgery and presumably still in pain, he was interviewed by a reporter who does not seem to have checked the veracity of the stories.
In addition to the Victoria Cross, Carroll was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Later life
Carroll died on 4 October 1971, at the age of 80, and is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth, Western Australia. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Legacy
The John Carroll ward at the former Repatriation General Hospital, Hollywood is named in his honour. In addition, a street in the suburb of Hughes in Canberra, the capital of Australia, is named after Private Carroll (the suburb being named after Prime Minister Billy Hughes). On Anzac Day 2018, Carroll and fellow VC recipient Thomas Axford, were honoured with a paver on the Walk of Fame in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-05/family-searches-for-victoria-cross-heros-forgotten-daughter/9726406 |title=Mystery remains unsolved as Victoria Cross hero's family searches for forgotten daughter |first=Jarrod |last=Lucas |date=5 May 2018 |work=ABC News |accessdate=2 August 2018}}
References
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Category:Military personnel from Brisbane
Category:Australian World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross
Category:Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery