Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Orginally posted as a homepage story avaliable here (/collections/home-page-stories/private-jack-antonio)

Jack considered himself a ‘natural born British subject’,[i] but his lineage traces right round the globe. Thomas Antonio, Jack’s grandfather, was born in Gibraltar in 1810.[ii] His ethnicity is unknown – both Italian and Spanish descent are equally plausible. It appears the family immigrated from Gibraltar to Scotland in the early 1820’s, where Thomas met his future wife Margaret Johnston. When the pair gave birth to their first son, William, Margaret was just 16 years old. The young couple left their home in Dundee, Scotland, perhaps as a fallout of the presumably scandalous nature of their relationship, to settle in Maitland, New South Wales. They went on to marry on 16 December 1839 and have eight children together.[iii] In 1842, their third son George Antonio, Jack’s father, was born.[iv]

George Antonio, a wood-carter by trade, moved to Taradale in Victoria, where he married Mary Ann Donald on 17 August 1881.[v] Mary Ann’s parents, like George’s mother, were Scottish, immigrating from Eddrachillis to Victoria in 1857.[vi] Taradale was home to a large proportion of Scottish families; its name derives from Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Murchison’s family home Tarradale House. George and Mary Ann had twelve children together across almost 30 years – their youngest, Albert Antonio, was born when George was 59 years old.[vii] John (Jack) Antonio was the couples’ tenth child, born on 19 May 1895.[viii]

By the time Jack was born, the Antonio family was extensive and broke; made notorious in the local area by their intimidating father-figure. George Antonio frequented the Taradale Police Court, charged with minor indiscretions such as “cutting down timber on Crown land”,[ix] “helping [oneself] to flowering shrubs”[x] and “breaches of the…Education Act”.[xi] George was a “dangerous man”, with little control over his temper.[xii] His severity was often unleashed on his children – in 1886 he was charged with “cruelly ill-treating” his 12-year-old son Christopher by tying him to a bed post by the neck with a dog chain and whipping him repeatedly with an inch-wide strap.[xiii] The thrashing, which left Christopher “covered with stripes and contusions”, was described by the court as “extraordinarily severe”.[xiv] A witness corroborated that it was not the first time she had heard George Antonio beat one of his children.[xv] Another witness, in a sperate trial of unlawful assault and obscene language, said he “had never witnessed” anything as “disgraceful” as Mr. Antonio’s behaviour, and described the state of the household as worse than “the slums of Melbourne”.[xvi]

Jack Antonio survived 19 years of poverty and abuse; and he hadn’t even enlisted in the Army yet. He did so on 12 May 1915 in Castlemaine.[xvii] Before 6 May 1918, men under the age of 20 needed permission from a guardian to enlist.[xviii] Jack was just a week out from his 20th birthday, but he did not wait for the threshold to expire. George’s shaky signature (so unsteady it is likely he was illiterate) sits alongside Jack’s own scrawl – “I, George Antonio, do hereby consent to my son enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force for active service abroad”.[xix] Perhaps George was pushing for his son to enlist, or perhaps Jack was so desperate to leave Taradale, he could not wait another week. Either way, Jack Antonio was now a Private in the 6th Infantry Battalion.

The HMAT Wandilla embarked Melbourne on 17 June 1915 with Jack and the rest of the 6th Battalion, 6th Reinforcements on board.[xx] They arrived in Lemnos in July and, while most men joined the unit at Anzac on 6 August 1915 after the completion of the Battle of Lone Pine, Jack remained on the island in hospital where he was treated for Gonorrhoea.[xxi] He was discharged on 28 August and joined the unit at Anzac on the same day.

The 6th Battalion were stationed at Wire Gully midway through September 1915. Named for the barbed wire that filled the area preventing Turkish attack, Wire Gully was a deep ravine between ‘Steele’s’ and ‘The Pine’ at Gallipoli. Trenches and dugouts were carved into the slopes of the valley. The Turks consistently bombarded the position at Wire Gully, occasionally conducting attacks at Lone Pine.[xxii] A particularly heavy bombardment occurred the morning of 4 October 1915. The Turks bombed the entire front line for almost an hour, causing four deaths and twelve wounded.[xxiii] Among the four dead was Jack Antonio – killed by the shrapnel of a high explosive shell.[xxiv] He had only spent five months on active service, and just over a month in the field. Jack was buried at Shrapnel Valley Cemetery amongst the thousands of other Australian soldiers who lost their lives at Gallipoli.

Jack’s family received word of his death in late October 1915. It was received with “great regret by the people of Taradale” where Jack, in spite of his family’s reputation, was “very popular”.[xxv] The page in Jack’s service record reserved for listing his remaining belongings to be sent home is stamped with five sad words: ‘No Personal Effects In Kit’. All that remained of Jack in Gallipoli was a small, white cross in a sea of crosses in Shrapnel Valley.

Jack Antonio was the only member of his immediate family to serve in World War One. His nephew, Christopher George Antonio Jnr (son of Jack’s eldest brother Christopher), successfully enlisted at just 15 years old as part of the recently formed 59th Infantry Battalion.[xxvi] He spent 207 days as part of the Army in the Castlemaine Camp before being discharged, deemed medically unfit due to his missing left big toe.[xxvii] He successfully enlisted again, this time as part of the 6th Infantry Battalion, and embarked for London on 4 August 1917. Upon arrival, he was once again discharged because of lingering soreness around his missing toe.[xxviii]

I did not expect to find such a sorry tale when I began researching Jack Antonio. A darkness seemed to engulf his family. Many of Jack’s siblings died young, possibly as a result of their poor quality of life. Christopher Antonio, who, at 12 years of age, was nearly beaten to death by his father, continued the pattern of abuse on his own children. In 1924, he beat his 4-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter with a whip, before attacking his son 21-year-old son Edward with an axe. Edward, acting in defence of his own life and the lives of his young siblings, shot his father in the chest, killing him instantly.[xxix]

The one shining light in the family was Jack. From just the small snippets of information available in old news articles, Jack’s popularity amongst the Taradale community is undeniable. Messages of condolences filled the papers on news of Jack’s death. Taradale’s Red Cross branch sent the Antonio family a large package of linens and a letter of condolence.[xxx] At the return home parade, the Antonio’s received an enlarged photograph of Jack, paid for by the residents of Taradale.[xxxi] To the Taradale community, it did not matter where Jack had come from – all that mattered was that his bravery and integrity was remembered. Now, every time you come across the Virtual War Memorial on social media, you too can be inspired by Private Jack Antonio.

References:

[i] Antonio J B2455, Service Record, p.1.
[ii] Ancestry 2022, Thomas Antonio, Ancestry, viewed 7 March 2022, < https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/67885038/person/362266970440/facts>.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ancestry 2022, George Antonio, Ancestry, viewed 7 March 2022, <https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/67885038/person/362265898255/facts>.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] Ancestry 2022, Albert Antonio, Ancestry, viewed 7 March 2022, <https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/67885038/person/362265898262/facts>.
[viii] Ancestry 2022, George Antonio, Ancestry, viewed 7 March 2022, <https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/67885038/person/362265898255/facts>.
[ix] Mount Alexander Mail 1876, ‘Items of News’, Mount Alexander Mail, p. 2, viewed 8 March 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/198203157?searchTerm=%22george%20antonio%22%20%2B%20%22taradale%22>.
[x] The Bendigo Independent 1894, ‘Political Platforms’, The Bendigo Independent, p. 2, viewed 8 March 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/183316700?searchTerm=%22george%20antonio%22%20%2B%20%22taradale%22>.
[xi] The Kyneton Observer 1885, ‘Taradale – Wednesday, September 9th (Before Mears, Berry, Graham, and Jackson J’s.P.) Truancy’, The Kyneton Observer, p. 2, viewed 8 March 2022, <10 Sep 1885 - TARADALE—Wednesday, September 9th. - Trove (nla.gov.au)>.
[xii] The Bendigo Independent 1905, ‘The Antonio’s and The Henderson’s – Neighbours’ Quarrel Before the Court’, The Bendigo Independent, p. 1, viewed 9 March 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/227770880?searchTerm=%22george%20antonio%22%20%2B%20%22son%22>.
[xiii] The Age 1886, ‘A Father Fined For Cruelty’, The Age, p. 6, viewed 9 March 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/199453079?searchTerm=%22george%20antonio%22%20%2B%20%22passionate%22>.
[xiv] Ibid.
[xv] Ibid.
[xvi] The Kyneton Observer 1896, ‘Taradale – Stealing Gold’, The Kyneton Observer, p. 2, viewed 9 March 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240963733?searchTerm=%22george%20antonio%22%20%2B%20%22brother-in-law%22>.
[xvii] Antonio J B2455, Service Record, p.1.
[xviii] Mallett, R 2002, ‘The Interplay between Technology, Tactics and Organisation in the First AIF’, MA Thesis, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, p. 13.
[xix] Antonio J B2455, Service Record, p. 17.
[xx] Antonio J B2455, Service Record, p. 12.
[xxi] Ibid.
[xxii] Australian Imperial War Diaries 1914-18 War 1915, 6th Infantry Brigade, AWM RCDIG1004494, Canberra.
[xxiii] Ibid.
[xxiv] Antonio J B2455, Service Record, p. 12.
[xxv] The Kyneton Guardian 1915, ‘Fallen on the Field of Honour’, The Kyneton Guardian, p. 3, viewed 9 March 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129607156?searchTerm=%22george%20antonio%22%20%2B%20%22taradale%22>.
[xxvi] Antonio C G B2455, Service Record, p. 5.
[xxvii] Ibid, p. 8.
[xxviii] Ibid, p. 12.
[xxix] Weekly Times 1924, ‘Father Fatally Shot – Son Sent for Trial’, Weekly Times, p. 9, viewed 9 March 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223557132?searchTerm=%22Christopher%20Antonio%22>.
[xxx] The Kyneton Guardian 1915, ‘Taradale’, The Kyneton Guardian, p. 2, viewed 9 March 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129607395?searchTerm=%22John%20Antonio%22%20%2B%20%22Taradale%22>.
[xxxi] The Kyneton Guardian 1916, ‘Elphinstone’, The Kyneton Guardian, p. 4, viewed 9 March 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129597694?searchTerm=%22John%20Antonio%22%20%2B%20%22Taradale%22>.