John Macquarie Antill CB CMG (1866 - 1937)

Ancestors

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Formative years 1.2 A life in the military 1.3 Retirement 2 Sources 3 See also

Biography

Major General John Macquarie Antill CB CMG was a senior Australian Army officer in the New South Wales Mounted Rifles serving in the Second Boer War, and an Australian Army General in the First World War. He retired from the army in 1924 as an honorary Major General. Due mainly to Peter Weir's 1981 film Gallipoli, Antill is best known for his role in the Battle of The Nek in the Gallipoli Campaign.

Formative years

John Macquarie Antill was born on 26th January 1866 on the family property, Jarvisfield, Picton, New South Wales (Australia). He was the second surviving son and seventh of ten children of John Macquarie Antill and Jessie Hassall Campbell; a descendent of the New South Wales pioneer families of Antill, Wills, Campbell and Hassall. ^[1] His youngest sister, Elizabeth, married Henry Beauchamp Lassetter who became an Australian Brigadier General during The Great War. Following completion of his secondary education, Antill studied for and became a surveyor.

He married Agnes Willsallen on 24th October 1901 in St James' Church of England, Sydney, New South Wales. ^[2] The marriage proved to be more difficult than a raging battle and ended in divorce in 1914. Agnes left New South Wales with their daughters and moved to England, before 1918.^[3]

A life in the military

Antill gained an interest in things military whilst in the cadet unit of Sydney Grammar School. He joined the local militia in 1887. In 1889, upon appointment as Captain, he raised a squadron of mounted infantry in Picton, which later became part of the New South Wales Mounted Rifles. He did a tour of duty with the British Army in India in 1893, where he served with the 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment and the 2nd Dragoon Guards. On his return to Australia in 1894, Antill was commissioned into the colony's regular forces as a Captain.

In late 1899, Antill was promoted to Major and given command of 'A' Squadron of the New South Wales Mounted Rifles; the squadron being raised specially for service in the Boer War. ^[4] He took part in the relief of Kimberley and operations in the Orange Free State, Transvaal and the Orange River Colony from February to November 1900. From April to October 2001 he saw action in western and eastern Transvaal, taking part in the capture of Potgieter's convoy on the River Vaal in May and of De La Rey's convoy of wagons, cattle, ammunition and other stores. In eastern Transvaal he was involved in many night marches which resulted in the capture of over 1,000 prisoners. ^[5] For service in South Africa, Antill was twice Mentioned in Despatches, was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1901, and was made a brevet Lieutenant Colonel. From 1904 to 1906, Antill filled the position of aide de camp to the Governor General, Baron Northcote (Antill's grandfather had held that same position ninety years before for New South Wales Governor, Lachlan Macquarie).

In October 1914, Antill was appointed to the Australian Imperial Force as brigade major of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. ^[6] Antill embarked for Egypt on 25th February 1915 on the Transport A16 Star Of Victoria. In May, Antill and the brigade moved to Gallipoli for dismounted action. During the fierce fighting at The Nek, Antill, in temporary command of the brigade, refused a request from the commander of the 10th Light Horse, Lieutenant Colonel Noel Brazier, to cancel the third wave. Every man was mown down by machine gun fire before getting even three metres from their trench.

John Macquarie Antill, Gallipoli

Antill has been painted in a bad light for this decision by producer of the folm, Gallipoli, Peter Weir; however Weir and others who disparage Antill do not take into account that he had received conflicting intelligence and had to make an immediate 'in-the-field' decision. His decision was certainly not seen in a bad light by his superiors and it did not affect his career.

On 1st January 1916, Antill was promoted to Colonel and temporary Brigadier General and confirmed in command of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade in Sinai. ^[7] In August 1916, Antill was transferred from the Light Horse to command the 16th Australian Infantry Brigade on the Western Front. ^[8] Antill was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1916. After being evacuated to England ill, and failing his final medical examination, he relinquished command of the brigade in September 1917 and returned to Australia, whereupon his AIF appointment was terminated in December 1917 and he returned to the permanent military force.

In 1918, Antill became Assistant Adjutant General of the Australian Army. Later that year he was appointed commandant of the 5th Military District (South Australia). In 1921-1922 he was chief instructor at the training depot in Liverpool, New South Wales. He retired from the army on 26th January 1924, his sixtieth birthday anniversary, with the honorary rank of Major General.

Retirement

In retirement, Antill spent several years at Jarvisfield before moving to Manly and Dee Why, on the northern beaches of Sydney. His pastimes were gardening, woodwork, reading and bowls.

Antill co-authored a three-act play with his 'adopted daughter', Rose Antill-de Warren, about the life of William Redfern, called The Emancipist. It was published in 1936 by Angus & Robertson. ^[9] Rose passed away in Sydney the following year.

He passed away, following a three-year battle with cancer, on 1st March 1937 in the Royal Prince Henry Hospital, Little Bay, New South Wales. ^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ New South Wales Birth Index #13749/1866
2. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #8114/1901
3. ↑ she married again in England in 1918
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Captain John Macquarie Antill; accessed 31 Aug 2018
5. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Major John Macquarie Antill; accessed 31 Aug 2018
6. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Brigadier General John Macquarie Antill; accessed 31 Aug 2018
7. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade; accessed 31 Aug 2018
8. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 16th Australian Infantry Brigade; accessed 31 Aug 2018
9. ↑ The emancipist / by John Macquarie Antill and Rose Antill-de Warren; accessed 16 Mar 2019
10. ↑ New South Wales Death Index #589/1937

See also

• Clark, Rex. Antill, John Macquarie (1866–1937). Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1979, accessed online 30 May 2018.
• Wikipedia: John Antill; accessed 30 May 2018.