COLLINS, John Joseph
| Service Number: | 4170 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 8th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Albert Park, Victoria, Australia, September 1887 |
| Home Town: | Richmond (V), Yarra, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Furniture Salesman |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 20 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 4170, 8th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 4170, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Demosthenes, Melbourne | |
| 20 Sep 1917: | Involvement Sergeant, 4170, 8th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4170 awm_unit: 8 Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1917-09-20 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Rod Hutchings
The chaplain feels the weight of the papers handed over in the dark. John Joseph Collins has a feeling he is not coming back.
In the world before the khaki, "Jack" Collins was a man defined by the "Hawthorn fold". He was a furniture salesman in Richmond by day, but on Saturday afternoons, he was a sturdy forward for the Hawthorn Football Club. Alongside his brothers, Matt and Tim, Jack was part of the first trio of siblings to represent the club, kicking 34 goals across two seasons. Those who stood in the outer saw a "fine footballer" with a fair complexion and a shock of black hair, a man who played with the same consistency that would later define his leadership in France.
Jack didn’t join the Australian Imperial Force for the glory of the record books; he joined because his brothers did. When he enlisted in Geelong in July 1915, he brought with him the quiet loyalty of the goal square. That loyalty was tested in August 1917. As a Sergeant in the 8th Battalion, Jack was severely reprimanded for "neglecting his duty". His crime was simple: he failed to report a corporal who was absent from the morning roll call. To the military bureaucracy, it was a breach of discipline; to the men in the trenches, it was the act of a leader who protected his mates even at the cost of his own clean sheet.
Jack was more than a protector; he was a specialist in the dark. In September 1916, he was Mentioned in Despatches for his part in a "very successful" raid on enemy trenches. He was a man his superiors described as having a "Very Good" character, a soldier who moved from Lance Corporal to Sergeant through the sheer weight of his performance under fire.
But by the time the battalion reached Westhoek Ridge in September 1917, the forward’s intuition told him the game was nearly up. He sought out Chaplain Booth and handed over his personal letters and effects, a final insurance policy for a family he knew he wouldn't see again.
On the morning of the 20th, during the opening of the Battle of Menin Road, a bullet found him in the stomach. Private W.F. Alford was close enough to see him fall, and word spread through D Company that Jack had died before he could reach the safety of a clearing station.
Jack’s war ended in the Belgian mud, but the Collins legacy did not. His brothers, Matt and Tim, both returned to Melbourne, carrying the heavy silence of the one who stayed behind. While Jack’s name was eventually carved into the Menin Gate for those with no known grave, Matt’s name was etched into a trophy, the Matt Collins Cup, which is still awarded by the Hawthorn Football Club today.
Five generations of the Collins family have since followed in the brothers' footsteps, ensuring that while the salesman from Richmond never came home, he was never truly left behind.
Lest we forget
Rod Hutchings
Director, Virtual War Memorial Australia
Primary Sources:
National Archives of Australia: B2455, COLLINS J J.
Haby, P., "Three Hawk brothers who played and served together," Hawks Museum, 2015.
AWM Mention in Despatches: Routine Orders by Major Gen. H.B. Walker, 1st Aust Division, 06/10/1916
Click images to start slideshow.