John Albert Russell was born in Ballarat and was a Driver by trade when he enlisted in the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, Reinforcement 7 on 2 May 1917 at the age of 25. His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A32 Themistocles on 4 August 1917 and disembarked at Glasgow on October 2nd. In February 1918 he joined the 3rd Pioneer Battalion in France but on May 26th he was gassed and evacuated to hospital. He rejoined his unit a month later and came safely through the final months of the war. A week before the war ended he was transferred to the Provost Corps where he served until his return to Australia on the Bahia Castillo on June 19th 1920.
Tree No. 2969