DALE, Jack Stanley
| Service Number: | 2632 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 58th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia, April 1891 |
| Home Town: | Auburn, Boroondara, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 27 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial XLI A 19, |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 2632, 58th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 2632, 58th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Nestor, Melbourne |
Help us honour Jack Stanley Dale's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Don Alcock
Jack Stanley Dale was born in Castlemaine in 1891, youngest son in a family of eleven children, to local hotel owners John and Eliza Dale. Jack became a labourer and gold miner, and married Lillian Faull in 1910, both aged 19. They had three children, Jack Stanley Dale (b 1911), Beatrice Ada Dale (b 1913) and Elvie Murial Dale (b 1913 – Elvie died by suffocation after being overlain by her mother).
In 1913, Jack was charged with stealing gold valued at 4 shillings from a gold mine near Bendigo and sentenced to two years hard labour at Pentridge Prison. Soon after release, he enlisted in 1916 with the Australian Infantry (2632) and embarked on the troopship ‘Nestor’ on 2 October 1916 with the 6th Reinforcements, 58th Battalion, composed mostly of men from Victoria.
After being wounded at Delville Wood in March 1917, Jack re-joined his unit in July in preparation for the Third Battle of Ypres. The 58th Battalion’s major battle was at Polygon Wood on 26 September 1917. Jack was killed by an explosive shell on the second day. A missing persons enquiry later confirmed he died on the morning of 27 September 1917. Sergeant Gow (2659) wrote: “About the most particulars that I can give are that he was acting as a runner at Polygon Wood battle. While on a message, which I may firmly state, he was literally blown to pieces.” Another witness, Private Wills (2523), said Jack’s body was found “about 100 yds from the trench with his legs blown off.” Other witness accounts gave even more gruesome descriptions of Jack’s death.
Jack was buried where he fell at Anzac Ridge, Polygon Wood. His remains were later found after the war and re-interred at Tyne Cot Cemetery.
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