Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

01/07/1915

Date of Discharge

06/10/1919

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

23/06/1895

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

James Taplin, Goodwood Road, Goodwood, South Australia

Final Rank

Captain

Final Unit

32 Battalion AIF

Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 23 May 1919, page 878, position 78)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 24 October 1918, page 2056, position 203)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 30 October 1919, page 1660, position 335)
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 15 September 1919, page 1370, position 40)

Taplin entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 9 March 1913 and graduated on 28 June 1915. He embarked from Adelaide in November 1915 as a Lieutenant with the 32nd Battalion (as machine gun officer), disembarking in Suez, Egypt on 26 December 1915. Shortly afterwards he was appointed to the rank of Captain and served as Adjutant in his battalion from May to July 1916. During this period the 32nd Battalion arrived in France and fought at the Battle of Fromelles. Taplin was wounded in the abdomen and arm during the fighting and was evacuated to England for treatment. He rejoined the 32nd Battalion in October 1916 at Flers on the Somme and was placed in charge of D Company. Taplin was mentioned in 5th Divisional Orders for his "good work at Flers having previously shown courage at Petilloun".

Thereafter he occupied mainly staff roles with the 14th Brigade and the 8th Brigade and in May 1918 was appointed as a GSO III with the British 4th Army. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his "excellent work on the General Staff (Operations) at A.H.Q" over the next nine months. Taplin returned to Australia in August 1919 and at the time of his death on 31 October 1946 he was living in Millbrook, South Australia.

Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
AWM Honours & Awards
Sydney Morning Herald - 6 November 1946