Born in London, John Herford was captain of the Sydney club’s reserve team and played fullback. Aged 29 when he enlisted with his brother Richard at the end of the 1915 football season, he joined the 18th Battalion and embarked for overseas service in December 1915.
Herford was killed on the first day of the Battle of Pozieres on 23 July 1916. AG Tyson of 3 Battalion was a witness to his death. Unable to speak due to shell shock, he wrote this account: ‘I saw Herford blown to pieces and buried by a shell in our own trenches at Pozieres.’