John William Guest

John William Guest was born in July 1871 in Lewisham, Kent, England, to James Elias (John) Guest and Mary Jane, nee Wannell.

It is not exactly known when John immigrated from England. The passenger list for SS Monaro includes a 37-year-old British national, Mr W Guest, departing Albany in February 1920, bound for Melbourne.

On 7th June 1916, he enlisted at Tallangatta, Victoria. At the time, he was a married, 45-year-old farmer from Corryong, Victoria. In an initial application form dated July 1915, John stated that his occupation was that of a grocer. He was allocated Regimental Number 1843 and placed in the 2nd Reinforcements for the 37th Battalion. John gave his next of kin as his wife, Marian Guest. After initial training, he embarked on RMS Orontes at Melbourne, Victoria, on 16th August 1916.

After disembarking at Plymouth, England, on 2nd October 1916, John was transferred to the 8th Training Battalion at Larkhill. It was here that new recruits, or those returning after recovering from illness or wounds, were put through training schedules to develop their fighting tactics. John was permanently stationed in training battalions in England due to his age and was marked down for return to Australia.

On 1st November 1917, he returned to Australia aboard HMAT A68 Anchisses, with the rank of Corporal. He was discharged on 5th February 1918 and was awarded the British War Medal for his service during the war.

John passed away on 25th January 1966 at Geelong, Victoria and was buried in Geelong West Public Cemetery, Victoria.