Captain E Lloyd Davies MC - Buckingham Palace
James St.George SPROULE MC
| Date of birth | 31 October 1893 |
|---|---|
| Place | Kew, Victoria, Australia |
| Parents | James and Mary Brodie (nee Smith) Sproule |
| Date of death | 26 June 1948 |
| Place | Hertfordshire, at Watford, England, United Kingdom |
| Age | 54 |
| Scotch Year(s) | 1906 to 1913 |
Service record and post-war life
James ‘Jim’ Sproule had been in Cadets at Scotch, where in 1912 and 1913 he rowed in the crew. He was a 20-year-old medical student when he enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne on 10 September 1914. Jim, who was 5’11 ½ “ (182 cm) tall, was allotted as a Private to the 5th Battalion, like many other Scotchies in that period.
After embarking from Australia in October 1914, Jim served with the 5th Battalion at Gallipoli, where he was wounded twice. On the first occasion, on 1 June 1915, he received a shrapnel wound in the face and scalp, and after being evacuated to hospital in Egypt, returned to the battalion on 30 July. This was just in time for the heavy fighting at Lone Pine, and Jim was wounded again on 9 August. His service record says this was an injury to the eyes, and possibly not a wound in the strict sense, although an injury to his scalp is also mentioned in this month – perhaps a further problem with his June wound. It required his removal to Mudros, on Lemnos Island, but he was back with his battalion by 17 August.
In October Jim was evacuated to Mudros again, this time with dysentery, returned to his battalion but was then evacuated again on 18 October, first to Mudros and then to England, where his illness was diagnosed as diptheria. There he was discharged from the AIF on 22 December 1915 so that he could join the Royal Field Artillery with a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant.
In January 1916 Jim was ordered to Exeter to join the 3B Reserve Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery. He became a full Lieutenant in 1916. At Vimy Ridge in April 1917 he earned a Military Cross, though no further details appear to be available. Jim became an acting Captain in May 1918, and at some point that year was gassed. He was demobilised in 1919, and remained in England.
Jim remained in England after the war, becoming a well-known antiquarian bookseller in London. He died at Watford, Hertfordshire, England, in 1948. Jim had married Gladys Muriel Chatto (d. 1982) in 1918, and they had at least one son.
Photographs and Documents:
A page from Jim Sproule’s service record shows that he had a rough time at ‘Anzac', as the participants called Gallipoli.
Letter informing James Sproule of his appointment as a 2nd Lieutenant to the British Army.
Sources:
- Australian War Memorial
- Mishura Scotch Database
- National Archives of Australia – B2455, SPROULE JAMES ST GEORGE
- Scotch Collegian 1916, 1920
- The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=284954
