John Antill (general)

Antill was born on 26 January 1866 at the family estate of Jarvisfield, in Picton, New South Wales. and Jessie Hassall Campbell (1834–1917); he was the second of their surviving sons. Antill attended Sydney Grammar where he was a member of the school's cadet unit, and after completing his education he became a surveyor. His older brother Robert Henry Antill (1859–1938) became a pastoralist and coroner. and survived the sinking of the in 1915. He was a keen sportsman in his youth, and was an accomplished fencer and boxer. In 1887, Antill became a member of the local militia. Two years later, he took command of a squadron of the New South Wales Mounted Rifles that he helped to raise in Picton, and from 19 January 1889 he served in this unit with the rank of captain. Under orders from Major General Edward Hutton, the commander of the New South Wales Military Forces, Antill undertook a temporary detachment to the British Army, serving with them in India in 1893, where he was attached firstly to the 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment and then to the 2nd Dragoon Guards. He completed this in 1894, and was given a permanent commission as a captain in the New South Wales military. ==Military career==

Boer War In late 1899, Antill was promoted to the rank of major. As part of New South Wales' contribution to the Boer War, he was placed in command of 'A' Squadron, New South Wales Mounted Rifles, and sent overseas. Antill was present during the Battle of Paardeberg, which took place on 18 February 1900. He also took part in securing Pretoria and other operations unil he returned to Australia in January 1901. Two months later, he returned to South Africa, this time serving as the second-in-command of the 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles. With this force, he took part in the capture of a Boer convoy under the command of Fedinandus Potgier at the River Vaal. and achieved the brevetted rank of lieutenant colonel. which was finalised the following year. reaching Egypt where the brigade undertook further training. In May, the light horsemen were sent to Anzac Cove as dismounted reinforcements; initially, Antill's brigade undertook mainly defensive duties. However, in an effort to break the deadlock they were committed to the August Offensive. During the fierce fighting at The Nek, Antill, now 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. Hughes had gone forward to observe the attack, leaving Antill in charge. Due to a communications breakdown, Antill believed Hughes had gone forward to lead the brigade forward and therefore ordered the attack to continue. Part of the fourth wave also went over the top, before Brazier and some officers from the 8th Light Horse Regiment reached Hughes in time to call off any further waves. Out of around 500 men committed to the attack, more than half became casualties, with 234 being killed and 138 wounded. Most of those that were killed, died within only a few metres of the Australian trench line having come under heavy, unsuppressed fire. Antill took over temporary command of the brigade in September 1915 when Hughes became sick and had to be evacuated. when the decision was made by the British high command to evacuate the peninsula. The 3rd Light Horse Brigade were among last troops to withdraw from the position on 20 December 1915. On 1 January 1916, after the light horse units had returned to Egypt, Antill was promoted to the permanent rank of colonel, and temporary rank of brigadier general. He was also confirmed in his position as commander of 3rd Light Horse. On 5 August, after an Ottoman force attacked at Romani, Antill's brigade joined the rest of the ANZAC Mounted Division east of the canal. They arrived too late to take part in the initial fighting although they were later committed to following up the withdrawing Turkish troops. Only days after Romani, General William Birdwood sent a message requesting Antill take command of an infantry brigade on the Western Front. Antill accepted the offer, and relinquished command of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade to Brigadier General John Royston on 9 August. On arrival in Europe, Antill was given command over the 2nd Infantry Brigade, taking over in September and overseeing operations around Ypres and on the Somme. ==Post-war and later life==

On his return to Australia, Antill's appointment to the AIF was terminated in December 1917 and he returned to the permanent forces. He subsequently assumed the role of Assistant Adjutant General in 1918. Later that year, he took over as Commandant of the 5th Military District, in South Australia. He held this position until 1921, when he took up the role of Chief Instructor at the Training Depot, based in Liverpool, New South Wales. On 26 January 1924, Antill retired from the military, with the honorary rank of major general. In retirement, he lived in Jarvisfield, Manly and then Dee Why, and undertook a variety of hobbies including gardening, and sports. In 1936, he co-authored a play called The Emancipist with Rose Antill de Warren, about William Redfern. The final years of his life were spent in ill health, as he was diagnosed with cancer. Antill died on 1 March 1937 at the age of 71. He was cremated. In summarising Antill's character, his biographer Rex Clark in the Australian Dictionary of Biography describes Antill as: Ross Mallett's "General Officers of the First AIF" describes him in the following terms: ==References==