Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

LCpl 4289 John (Jack) Fairburn Stone,
19th Australian Infantry Battalion,
5th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division
 
In the silence of the fields of the Somme, stand row after row, solemn and eternal, the white graves, the last resting places of a whole generation of men who, on the battlefields of the great war and through the poppies of northern France, served and fought together with pride, giving their youth, their dreams and their hopes in the trenches of a world gone mad but which, with bravery and determination did their duty to the end, until their last breath without regard for their own lives and who, with honor and the greatest courage, gave their today and their lives for our tomorrow and for the peace in which we are united and in which we live thanks to them who gave their all in mud and barbed wire, in the fury of war but which today live in silence and remembrance, in our hearts and in our thoughts where their names and their faces will never cease to live.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and with infinite and eternal gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Lance Corporal number 4289 John (Jack) Fairburn Stone who fought in the 19th Australian Infantry Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division, and who died of his wounds 105 years ago,on Saturday December 23, 1916 at the age of 24 on the Somme front.

John Fairburn Stone was born on July 31, 1891 in Auckland, New Zealand, and was the third son of Charles and Mabel Stone, of Auckland. John was educated at King's College in Auckland, was a law student and after his studies he enlisted in the Auckland Mounted Rifles and embarked from Wellington, New Zealand, on board HMNZT 8 Star Of India on October 16, 1914 and sailed for Egypt and served until December 3, 1914.After his military service, John decided to emigrate to Australia and lived at 79 Macleay Street, Pott's Point, Sydney, New South Wales, and worked as a clerk.

wanting to do his duty, John enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on October 12, 1915 at Holsworthy, New South Wales, as Private in the 19th Australian Infantry Battalion, 10th Reinforcement, and after a four month training period, embarked with his unit from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A67 Orsova on March 11, 1916 and sailed for Egypt where he arrived on May 29 then embarked the same day on board "Megantic" and was sent to England.

On June 7, 1916 John arrived in England and was disembarked at Plymouth and was sent to the 5th Training Battalion at Perham Downs, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, and was promoted to the rank of Corporal on staff on June 14, 1916 then seven months later,on November 12, 1916, he embarked with his battalion from Folkestone, on board "Onward" and proceeded overseas for France and for the war.

On November 13, 1916, John arrived in France and was disembarked at Etaples, he marched out to unit on November 22 then joined the 19th Australian Infantry Battalion in which he was taken on strength on November 24 at Fricourt, in the Somme, and the same day was automatically reverted to the rank of Private.On November 26 with the 19th Battalion, John marched for Ribemont where they were billeted until November 30 then were billeted in Amiens from December 2 to 13 then John was promoted to the rank of Corporal on December 15 and moved to Rainneville, Fricourt, Montauban and on December 21, entered the front line trenches of Gueudecourt and the next day, occupied the "Switch Trench" and the "Needle Trench" at Lesboeufs where unfortunately, two days later, on December 23, 1916, John met his fate and was seriously wounded by a shell and was evacuated to the 7th Australian Field Ambulance, which was located near the current Bernafay Wood British Cemetery but despite the greatest care he received,John died of his wounds later that same day, he was 24 years old.

Today, John Fairburn Stone rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at the Bernafay Wood British Cemetery, Montauban, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "Son of Charles and the late Mabel Stone .Born Auckland, New Zealand."

John, your heart belonging to New Zealand and Australia, it is with determination and in the prime of your life that you answered to the call of duty to do your bit with faith on the battlefields of the Somme alongside your brothers in arms, your pals who together, with bravery and conviction, stood up and faced the horrors of a world at war which consumed the world and the humanity of men in darkness and despair but who, facing the gates of hell and apocalypse, did not take a single step back, despite their fears and the fury they clung to the soils of France and bravely stood under rains of bullets and storms of fire and steel which transformed once peaceful landscapes into fields of death, in putrid quagmires of mud and blood on which fell and were buried a whole generation of young boys who in this endless nightmare lost their youth and their innocence in the face of death which mercilessly took the life of their best mates.Young and proud, alongside their comrades, these young Diggers showed the fighting spirit of Australia they showed the determination of a whole young and strong nation whose sons wrote the most glorious pages on the fields torn and scarified by barbed wire and who, by their courage and their comradeship made their country proud and who, in blood and sacrifices, made and gave so much for my country, for France which will be forever grateful to them. In the cold, in the mud, surrounded by rats and devoured by lice they fought with perseverance beyond what a man could endure but each of them served with loyalty for the men who stood by their side and found in fraternity and friendship the courage and the strength to fight, they never gave up a single meter of France, a country which became their second nation, their adopted country, an old nation that they did not know much but for which they gave and sacrificed so much, until their last breath of life and who for us, for their loved ones, charged bayonets forward under the fire of enemy rifles and machine guns which, without rest,spit death at an incensed rate but despite the deluges of bullets, they went forward, followed their officers, their mates with confidence under the whistling of the shells which crushed them and pulverized them in waves under the weight of tons of steel but once again they went forward, they gave the best of themselves without regard for their own lives and for peace, for freedom, for their dreams, their hopes for a better world they went further through barbed wire and shell holes and in a last breath,a last act of love and faith for their country, they gave their lives and fell peacefully in the fields of poppies where they found peace, silence and serenity and where they stand today, always young and proud, their solemn but confident faces because after more than a hundred years, their sacrifices and their courage were never forgotten and their names, their lives will always be remembered and honored and as long as I live, I will always watch over them to bring them back to life, to bring their memory to life but also to tell them what they are for me, in my eyes and in my heart, my heroes,my boys of the Somme and I will always be honored and proud to be their guardian, so that their names live forever.Thank you so much John, for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.