John Harold Stodart

STODART, John Harold- – – – SPC 1908-1910

DoB:- – 1894, Korongvale, VIC

Father:- – James Archibald Stodart, Bank of Australasia, Ballarat branch

Mother:- – Amelia Mary, nee Moore

John was a boarder at St Patrick’s from Melbourne, with his brother, James Archibald (SPC 1908-1910) who also enlisted for service.

Service No:- 3314

Rank:- – Private, Trooper

Unit:- – 27th Reinforcements, 8th Light Horse

John Stodart enlisted on 11 January 1917, one year after his brother James. John was 22 years and 11 months old, five feet, nine inches tall, with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was a single man who worked as a bank clerk.

Private Stodart embarked from Melbourne aboard the Boorara on 10 May 1917, disembarking at Suez, Egypt on 20 June. He marched into the isolation camp where he remained until 28 July 1917. His war record does not state why he was placed in isolation, but one can surmise on the likelihood that he was suffering from some infectious disease picked up on the way overseas.

Still in Egypt, Private Stodart was made Driver on 13 August 1917. Later that month he was admitted to the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance with Gastritis. While he was posted to Gaza, Jerusalem, Abbassia and Cairo, he was frequently admitted to hospital with this stomach complaint. In September 1918, he was absent from duty while undergoing treatment for venereal disease. He rejoined his unit on 21 November 1918.

On 25 August 1919, Private John Stodart returned to Australia aboard the Morvada. He was discharged from the AIF on 24 September 1919.

John married Beatrice Nita Jennings in 1920. He worked as a bank manager and was sometimes transferred to towns across Victoria. The electoral rolls find the couple in Balaclava in 1924, at Echuca in 1931, at Port Fairy in 1936. By 1968, John was retired and they were living in St Kilda.

Beatrice died on 28 July 1970, at the age of 75 years. Her death certificate shows that John was still alive at the time of her death, and they had one son, born in 1924. John died on 19 May 1978 at age 84, in Sydney, NSW. He was buried at Woronora Cemetery, Sutherland, NSW.