2015 Pan Pacific Veterinary Conference

John Kendall was the third son of WT Kendall MRCVS, founder of the Melbourne Veterinary College which he attended obtaining the GMVC diploma with honours in 1902. He arrived in Egypt in December 1914, and was present at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. He assessed the fighting ability of different nationalities as: “one Aussie equals 1.5 Tommy, 2 Frenchmen, and 4 Turks. The Indians were very fine horsemen. The West Indians were black, but spoke perfect English. After fighting alongside us they now call themselves “The Black Anzacs”.” After WW1, John Kendall returned to Shepparton via England where he had a short refresher course in his Uncle Joseph’s veterinary practice. On 11 June 1924, as chair of the committee that raised the funds for the Shepparton War Memorial, he invited the Governor, Lord Stradbroke, to unveil the Web Gilbert “Helping Hand” sculpture. The artist John Longstaff who also participated in this ceremony, said that Shepparton would have the finest WW1 memorial outside of Melbourne. John Kendall is one of the “Forgotten Men”. Lest we forget.