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John Adam Haffner - Information

John was the first son of John Andrew and Anna Haffner. John Andrew and Anna had eight children in Campbelltown, including John who was born on the 23rd of September 1888, before moving to Hillview, Bemboka near Bega. When war started, John Adam was still living with his family and working as a dairy farmer in Bemboka. At the age of 27, he decided to enlist in the AIF at Goulburn Depot on the 14th of June 1916. He trained with C Company Depot Battalion in Goulburn, and was then posted to A Company, 56th Battalion. His unit embarked Sydney on the HMAT Ceramic on the 7th of October 1916.

John arrived in Plymouth in late November. He was quickly despatched to France in December and by February 1917 was stationed with the 56th Battalion in the lines. John was not in the trenches long, when he was wounded in action while chasing the Germans to the Hindenburg Line. On the 2nd of April, he was shot in his left thigh and was rushed to hospital in Rouen. It was a slight wound, and he was marched out to Ètaples Base Depot and back to the lines on the 21st. However, the following month, he was taken back to hospital, admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital with trench fever. After recovering, he returned to duty in July. He was then granted ‘Blighty’ leave to England, which he enjoyed before returning to the 56th Battalion in January 1918. John remained with the 56th Battalion, until he was sent home from England on the 7th of February 1919. In the final year of the war, the 56th Battalion was very active in arresting the German Spring advance and began pushing them back; protecting Villers-Bretonneux and attacking the Hindenburg Line. John passed away in Canterbury in 1935, aged 47.