CROOKE, John Edward James
| Service Number: | 637 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia , 22 May 1877 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Mechanic |
| Died: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 26 February 1940, aged 62 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 637, 5th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 637, 5th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Orvieto embarkation_ship_number: A3 public_note: '' | |
| 21 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 637, 5th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Orvieto, Melbourne | |
| 25 Nov 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 637, 5th Infantry Battalion, ex Suez per HS Karoola (eye trouble) | |
| 5 May 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 637, 5th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private John Edward James Crooke (Service No:637) enlisted in the AIF on 20 August 1914 and embarked from Melbourne for Egypt on 21 October 1914 on board HMAT Orvieto A3. Private Crooke served with the 5th Infantry battalion in Egypt and embarked from Suez for Australia on 25 November 1915 on board HS Karoola. Private Crooke served with 5th Infantry Battalion and was Discharged on 5 May 1916.
Born in 1877 in Melbourne Victoria, John was the third of eleven children of Henry (Harry) William Crook (b1849 in Ballan, Victoria) and Emma Ashby (b1855 in Launceston, Tasmania). Harry (a Labourer) and Emma married in 1873 in Melbourne where they settled and raised their family. Harry worked as a Labourer, Carter, Miner and Prospector.
John was a Cab Driver in Melbourne, Victoria in 1897 when he married Louisa Muriel Edwards (b1880 in Toolamba, Victoria). John and Louisa settled in Melbourne, where John was working as a Cab Driver in 1909 when Muriel died of poisoning (she stated that she drank the heads of phophorous matches she had soaked in water).
John remained in Melbourne where he worked as a Cab Driver and Chauffeur before enlisting in the AIF in 1914. Following his Discharge, John was working as an Electrician in Wonthaggi in 1916 when he remarried - Emily Muriel Allen (b1888 in Cranbourne, Victoria) - Emily was a Sewing Mistress at Blackforest Woods, Wonthaggi. John and Emily settled in Wonthaggi where John worked as an Electrician before moving to Melbourne in the late 1930s. John died in 1940 and Emily died in 1979.