John Gilligan was born Queenscliff, VIC and was an Electrician by trade when he enlisted from Ballarat in the 13th Light Horse Regiment, 7th Reinforcement on 7 July 1915 at the age of 21. His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A40 Ceramic on 23 November 1915. In March 1916, while in Egypt, he was transferred to the 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column and moved to France. On October 13th 1917 during the fighting at Passchendaele in Belgium he was wounded in action. He sustained a shrapnel wound to the head and was evacuated to hospital at Rouen in France. In March 1918 he was hospitalised again due to illness just after returning from leave in Paris. He rejoined his unit in May but within two weeks he was back in hospital due to an accidental wound to his left ear. Three weeks later he once more rejoined his unit and served through the final months of the war. He returned home on the Runic, disembarking at Melbourne on June 10th 1919.
Tree No 813
His brother William also served in the AIF and is honoured with a tree in the Avenue.