Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

01/07/1915

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

15/12/1896

Place of Birth

Braidwood NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Austin Chapman MHR (father), Braidwood NSW

Final Rank

Major

Final Unit

5 Division Headquarters AIF

Distinguished Service Order (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 15 September 1919)
Mention in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 4 October 1917)
Mention in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 30 October 1919)

Chapman was the son of the member for Eden-Monaro, Austin Chapman who represented the Canberra district in Federal parliament up until the Territory was created in 1911. He entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 10 March 1913 and was graduated early on 28 June 1915. He left Australia as a Lieutenant with the 30th Battalion and was promoted to Captain in July 1916 after arriving in France. He was gassed on the Somme battlefield and after recovering in Engalnd, he was appointed as Adjutant to his battalion in May 1917. In October 1917 he was promoted to Major and while acting as the Brigade Major of the 8th Brigade, he reconnoitred the front line, under heavy fire, near the village of Estrées, France, on 28 August 1918. For his actions was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

Chapman remained in the permanent forces after the war and married Helena Booten in Sydney in October 1919 and went on to serve in World War 2. His last appointment was as Quartermaster General and third member of the Military Board in Melbourne until he retired from the military in December 1953. He died in Sydney on 19 April 1963, aged 67 years.

Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
Alexander J. McGilvray, 'The Hallowed High Adventure', 1973 (p.66)
Australian Dictionary of Biography online
http://www.adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chapman-john-austin-9727/text17177, published in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 23 April 2014
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
AWM collection record : P10706.001, P03014.002, 010430
Queanbeyan Age - 29 September 1916, 13 February 1917, 19 October 1917, 18 December 1917, 17 June 1919, 14 October 1919