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War Memorial
Australia

John Edwin "Jack" Boscoe

TX284 Private, 2/12th Infantry Battalion, AIF

11 August 1919 – 12 August 1978

Early Life and Family

John Edwin Boscoe, known to all as Jack, was born on 11 August 1919 in Launceston, Tasmania. He was one of the children of James Boscoe (c.1873–1958), a long-serving Launceston wood machinist, and Elvie Marion Boscoe (née Pointon, 1890–1955).

Jack grew up in a large family. He had a twin sister, Maisie Joan Boscoe, born the day after him on 12 August 1919 at Victoria Hospital, Launceston. Other siblings included Beryl Edna Boscoe (born 1918) and several older half-siblings from his father's first marriage to Mary Ann Pointon, who had died in 1905.

The Boscoe family were well-known residents of Launceston. Electoral rolls and directories trace their addresses:

10 Ann Street, Launceston East (1914–1919)
16 Laura Street, Launceston West (1922)
28 Percy Street, Launceston West (1928)
18 Victoria Street, Launceston West (mid-1930s–1940s)
It was this Victoria Street address that Jack gave in 1939 as his father's residence when he enlisted in the army.

Enlistment and Training

Jack enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 27 October 1939 at Launceston, only weeks after war broke out in Europe. He was 20 years old, employed as a labourer, and described as 6 ft tall, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a dark complexion. His father, James, was listed as next of kin.

He was allocated to the 2/12th Infantry Battalion on 13 November 1939, one of Tasmania's own battalions. The battalion trained at Brighton Camp, Tasmania, before embarking from Sydney on 5 May 1940 aboard HMT X1. They disembarked in the Middle East on 17 June 1940.

Service and Capture

Private Boscoe fought in the North African campaign. On 16 May 1941, during fighting against German forces in Libya, he was reported Missing in Action. By July 1941, the International Red Cross confirmed that he was a Prisoner of War.

He was initially held in Italian camps, including Camp 66 Capua and Camp 59 Servigliano, before being transferred north after Italy's capitulation. By 1944, he was in Stalag VIIA, Moosburg, Bavaria, Germany.

His family in Launceston endured long months of uncertainty. Casualty lists in Tasmanian newspapers reported him as missing and later confirmed his POW status.

Prisoner of War Years

Jack remained a prisoner for nearly four years. Red Cross reports kept his family informed, and his name appeared in wartime newspapers as one of Tasmania's missing and captured soldiers.

Conditions were harsh, but he survived captivity until the war turned.

Liberation and Repatriation

In May 1945, as Allied forces advanced into Germany, Jack was liberated. A telegram reached his father in Launceston on 27 April 1945, confirming his safety.

By September 1945, he was back in Australia. The Examiner newspaper in May 1945 published his name among the Tasmanian prisoners of war who had been freed and repatriated.

He was processed through 107 Convalescent Depot, Ballarat, and Tasmanian Echelon Records.

Discharge

Date of Discharge: 11 December 1945
Rank: Private, 2/12th Infantry Battalion
Total Service: 2,244 days (over six years)
Active service overseas: 1,971 days
Active service in Australia: 83 days
Issued Returned from Active Service Badge A174236
Issued Certificate of Discharge No. 222556
Noted officially as Ex-POW

Later Life

After the war, Jack resettled in South Australia. He married Joyce Hazel Boscoe (1934–1995), and they lived at 2 Southport Street, Blair Athol.

Jack passed away on 12 August 1978 at Stepney, South Australia, aged 59 – the day after his birthday. He was laid to rest at Enfield Memorial Park, Clearview, in the Eastern Niche Wall No. 1, Sub Section RSL.

Joyce survived him until 10 September 1995, when she died at the age of 61. Her memorial plaque sits alongside Jack's, inscribed with the words "In Memory – Dallas & Randall".

Legacy

Jack's name is inscribed on the Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, honouring those who endured captivity during WWII.
His life represents the story of a Tasmanian son who grew up in Launceston, fought for Australia in North Africa, endured years as a prisoner of war, and came home to build a postwar life with his family in South Australia.

He is remembered as a soldier, POW survivor, husband, and father — a man whose journey stretched from Launceston's working-class streets to the battlefields of North Africa, the prison camps of Europe, and finally to rest in Adelaide.

Biography by Trevor Pyatt 8/09/2025