JACKSON, Arthur William
| Service Number: | 1672 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 December 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 11 May 1896 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Dutton Park State School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Butcher |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 7 April 1918, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Gezaincourt Communal Cemetery Extension, France Plot I, Row K, Grave No. 6. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1672, 49th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 1672, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: SS Hawkes Bay embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 20 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 1672, 49th Infantry Battalion, SS Hawkes Bay, Sydney | |
| 7 Apr 1918: | Involvement Corporal, 1672, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1672 awm_unit: 49th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Corporal awm_died_date: 1918-04-07 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Arthur was the eldest son of William James and Florence Roslia Jackson, of South Brisbane, Queensland.
Arthur arrived in France in June 1916 and was promoted to Corporal in the 49th Battalion a few months later.
He fought on the Western Front for over twelve months before he was shot in the leg in Belgium during the Battle of Polygon Wood in September 1917. He was transferred to England to recover and rejoined his battalion during March 1918.
On 5 April 1918, two companies of the 47th Battalion which were dug in on the railway embankment at Dernancourt were overrun and the German attackers poured through a railway underpass. At 5pm, the 49th Battalion began a counter attack. The battalion moved up and over the ridge and began to push back on the Germans who were occupying the ground between the ridge and the railway line. They suffered many casualties but inspired other Australians in the area to fight the enemy hard.
According to Red Cross reports, Jackson was mortally wounded by machine gun fire, at the same time as Privates Barnes and Jorgensen were killed. Although Arthur Jackson was carried back to a dressing station, he died of head wounds in the 56th Casualty Clearing Station two days later.
His kit and personal belongings were sent from England to his parents in Australia but the ship carrying them, the S.S. Barunga, sunk, after it was hit by a torpedo from a German submarine 150 miles south west of the Scilly Isles, in July 1918.
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