JONES, Stephen Robert Septimus
| Service Number: | 2048 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Manly, New South Wales, Australia, 1 June 1897 |
| Home Town: | Ashfield, Ashfield, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Porter |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Belgium, 9 October 1917, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Aug 1915: | Involvement Private, 2048, 19th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2048, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Sydney | |
| 5 Aug 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2048, 20th Infantry Battalion, Shrapnel wound to left wrist and arm. Evacuated to England. | |
| 30 Apr 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 20th Infantry Battalion |
A product of his upbringing
Stephen was a younger member of a large family, one of five siblings who enlisted but the only one who did not return. His oldest brother Benjamin was also a veteran of the Boer War. Two of his other siblings were rejected, having failing to meet the physical requirements. He never married and left a grieved mother.
Submitted 18 February 2023 by Violette Rose-Jones
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Stephen Robert Septimus JONES (Service Number 2048A) was born on 1st June 1897 at Manly. He had commenced working for the NSW Government Railways in the Traffic Branch in the Sydney District as a junior porter on 6th November 1913. The position was made permanent a month later. He was released to join the Expeditionary Forces on 28th July 1915, although he had already enlisted at Liverpool the week before.
He left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Runic’ on 9th August 1915. he was initially allotted to the 3rd Reinforcements to the 19th Battalion. He served with the 18th Battalion at Gallipoli in late September, but then transferred to the 20th Battalion in early October. Jones left Gallipoli with the general evacuation in late December 1915, via Mudros (on the Greek island of Lemnos) to Alexandria (Egypt). While in Egypt he was disciplined for being Absent Without Leave at Tel-el-Kebir. After the Battalions which had fought at Gallipoli were reformed and refreshed in Egypt, Jones embarked at Alexandria on 18th March 1916 for France and the Western Front, passing through Marseilles on 28th March.
Jones was wounded on 5th August 1916. This shrapnel wound to his left wrist and arm required evacuation to England and treatment at least until October, and then further convalescence.
Jones did not re-join the 20th Battalion until January 1917. He was again wounded with shrapnel,this time to his left knee, and again invalided to hospital in England. Once well again he had two weeks furlough before further training and returning to the 20th Battalion in France in September 1917.
He was killed in action in Belgium on 9th October 1917. He was still just 20 years and 4 months old. No details as to the location or circumstances of his death survive and he has no known grave. He is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres, Belgium.
Jones widowed mother was awarded a pension of £2 per fortnight.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.