Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John William Alexander Jackson, known as Bill, Billy and Jacko, was born on 13th September 1897 at Glengower Station Gunbar NSW.  He was the 4th of 8 children born to his parents John and Adelaide Jackson.  He had 3 older sisters but 2 died by 1903 leaving just Elizabeth.  His younger siblings were Catherine, Albert, Adelaide and Leslie.  Bill’s mother died when he was 8 so the remaining 6 children were raised by her parents at nearby Seaton Park.  Bill was educated at the one-room Gunbar School.  Gunbar was a very small population…just 4 houses in 1914 when WW1 broke out.  At the time he was 16 years 10 months old and was working at Carlowrie Station.  Bill quit his job, and with his father’s consent, joined a group of men from the 4 Gunbar houses who set off to Sydney to enlist.  They were the first to enlist from the town for WW1.  Bill had never seen a train or a city before he left Gunbar. 

On 15th February 1915, Bill enlisted at Liverpool Camp NSW aged 17 years 5 months but he gave his age as 18 years 5 months because he was under age.  He’s described as being 5ft 11ins tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair.  His service number was 588, his rank Private and he was assigned to the 17th Infantry Battalion B Company, part of the 5th Brigade 2nd Division.  After completing his training at Liverpool Camp he embarked from Sydney on HMAT Themistocles on 12th May 1915.  He disembarked at Suez, Egypt, on 12th June and proceeded to Aerodrome Camp at Heliopolis.  Bill was detailed for special duty at Alexandria on the 12th August then 3 days later embarked with his battalion from Alexandria for Gallipoli on HMT Alaunia.  They arrived at Lemnos Island 2 days later where the next day they transhipped to the smaller vessel SS El Kahira.  They arrived at Anzac Cove at 5am on 19th August then proceeded to Reserve Gully then on to Happy Valley where the 5th Brigade was attached for temporary duty to the 4th Brigade.  The battalion arrived at Bauchop’s Hill at 9.30pm on the 20th.  The next day they moved to the “Crater” and took part in the Battle of Hill 60.  Casualties for the battalion at the end of this action were 1 Officer and 3 other ranks killed along with 2 Officers and 23 other ranks wounded.  The battalion moved to Otago Gully on 2nd September then 2 days later moved to take over the positions at Pope’s Post and Quinn’s Post.  On 8th September the 5th Brigade reverted to the 2nd Division and a week later the 17th Battalion relinquished Pope’s Post and remained at Quinn’s Post. 

On 3rd October Bill was admitted with dysentery to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station at Anzac Cove then was evacuated on the hospital ship HMHS Assaye.  He was admitted to St Patrick’s Hospital at Malta on 10th October then was transferred to Ghajn Tuffieha Convalescent Camp on 3rd November.  Bill embarked from Malta on 7th January 1916 on HMHS Essequibo and disembarked at Egypt where he was admitted to the 1st Australian General Hospital at Heliopolis.  He was discharged to duty on 15th February and rejoined his battalion at Moascar Camp on 8th March.  Just over a week later the whole battalion embarked from Alexandria for France on HMT Arcadian.  They disembarked at Marseilles on 23rd March and entrained for Thiennes arriving there 3 days later.  The moved to Erquinghem on 7th April then proceeded to Bois Grenier just south of Armentieres where they took over the frontline trenches on 10th April.  This was their first action in France and the Australian and German frontline trenches were only 200-300 yards apart.  In June the 5th Brigade were engaged in raids on the enemy and one was planned for the night of 25th-26th June involving a party of 69 Officers and Other Ranks drawn from the 4 battalions of the 5th Brigade…including the 17th battalion.  The aim was to capture prisoners to gather information from them.  The men were all volunteers.  They were pulled out of the line and spent 3 weeks training for the raid.  Bill volunteered to be one of the scouts and their job was to go forward ahead of the rest of the party and reconnoitre the enemy activity in No Man’s Land and knock out enemy listening posts.  They also lay white tap on the ground so that their party could find their way back to their own trenches.  The scouting party were constantly exposed to the enemy and their attacks.  The raid was successful in that 30+ Germans were killed and 4 prisoners were captured.  

Bill captured one of the enemy and returned safely with him through the 365 metre No-Man's land to his own lines despite the intense barrage of enemy shell and machine gun fire.  On learning that some of the party had been hit Bill immediately returned into the enemy barrage and rescued one of his wounded comrades.  On his second rescue mission, while still ignoring the intensifying bombardment, he was assisting Sergeant Hugh Camden  to bring in a seriously wounded Private Robinson.  A blast from an exploding shell blew off Bill's right arm above the elbow.  It caused further injuries  to Private Robinson and rendered Sergeant Camden temporarily unconscious.  In spite of his frightful injury, Bill returned to his lines where an Officer applied a tourniquet to his arm using a piece of string and a stick.  Bill went out again and assisted Robinson and Camden back to their lines.  Bill continued to search for another half an hour until he was satisfied that all the wounded had been brought in.  He was evacuated and admitted to the 2nd Canadian Stationary Hospital at Outreau on the 17th June then 2 days later was evacuated from Boulogne on HMHS St Parick to England where he was admitted to the 3rd London General Hospital on the 29th June.  The following day he had the stump of his right arm amputated.  On 20th July he was transferred to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital (1AAH) at Harefield then in early September he was transferred to the 2nd Australian Auxiliary Hospital (2AAH) at Southall.  It was while he was there, on 8th September 1916, that he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on the night of the raid that cost him his arm.  The announcement came 5 days before his 19th birthday.  The citation in the London Gazette reads: “For most conspicuous bravery.  On the return from a successful raid, several members of the raiding party were seriously wounded in No Man’s Land by shell fire.  Private Jackson got back safely and after handing over a prisoner whom he had brought in, immediately went out again under very heavy shell fire and assisted in bringing in a wounded man.  He then went out again, and with a Sergeant was bringing another wounded man when his arm was blown off by a shell, and the Sergeant was rendered unconscious.  He then returned to our trenches, obtained assistance, and went out again to look for his two wounded comrades.  He set a splendid example of pluck and determination.  His work has always been marked by the greatest coolness and bravery.”    

Bill holds the honour of being the first Australian awarded the Victoria Cross on the Western Front during WW1 as well as being the youngest Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross at the age of 18 years and 9 months.  He is also the only soldier of the 17th Battalion’s to have been decorated with this medal during WW1.  Two weeks later Bill and Sergeant Hugh Camden were both awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for their actions in the June raid but Bill’s DCM was later cancelled due to it being superseded by the Victoria Cross.  This would later become an issue due to a bureaucratic blunder. 

On 26th October Bill was transferred to Queen Mary’s Hospital at Roehampton which specialised in the rehabilitation of soldiers who had lost limbs.  On the 18th November Bill was invested with his Victoria Cross by King George VI at Buckingham Palace.  In early December he proceeded to 2AAH at Southall.  He was discharged to Headquarters in mid-February 1917 but was re-admitted to 2AAH in late March.  He was discharged from hospital on 5th April for return to Australia and embarked from Devonport on 4th May on HMAT Themistocles, the same ship that he had left Australia on 2 years earlier.  Bill disembarked at Sydney on 5th July where a reception was held in his honour before entraining for Hay where another welcome and reception awaited him from the locals and the Deputy Mayor.  Sergeant Camden was accompanied Bill on the train and on behalf of Bill responded to the Deputy Mayor’s welcome.  He spoke of Bill’s selfless courage and commented…“Bill wasn’t looking for a VC that night, he was looking for a cobber.”  The residents of Gunbar sought to show their appreciation of Bill by buying him a farming property in the area, but he declined their offer, believing the loss of his arm rendered him incapable of work on the land.            

Bill was discharged from the service on 15th September 1917.  However, he remained faithful in serving his fellow soldiers.  On Red Cross Day 1918 Bill endeavoured to raise funds for the welfare of returned soldiers by selling cardboard Victoria Crosses.  On the back of each one, he had carefully signed with his left hand ‘W. Jackson V.C. DCM’.  He also sold kisses for five-shillings each during at least one charity drive in 1918.

Due to drought and his disability he was no longer able to work on the local farms so he moved to Merriwa NSW where he dealt in horses and animal skins.  In 1927 he became the licensee of the Figtree Hotel in Wollongong.  During the depression years Bill had several jobs then in 1929 he moved to Sydney after his home at Merriwa burned down.  In Sydney he worked as a clerk for the Metropolitan Water, Sewerage/Drainage Board.

Bill married Ivy Muriel Morris on 12th January 1932 at St Paul’s Church of England, Kogarah NSW.  They settled at Hurstville near Ivy’s family and later that year they welcomed their only child, Dorothea.  In 1937 Bill was awarded the King George VI Coronation Medal. 

On 31st March 1941 Bill enlisted for WW2 at Paddington NSW aged 43.  His service number was N107906, his rank Private and he was appointed to a specialist group.  He was promoted to Corporal on 15th May 1941 and a month later transferred to the Eastern Northen Command Provost Company.  He transferred 2 months later to Deputy Director of Recruiting AIF NSW and was appointed Acting Sergeant in mid-September.  In December 1941 Bill was interrogated regarding his right to wear a DCM ribbon.  He denied any knowledge that the award had been cancelled and replied that he would continue to wear all his medals.  Bill requested a discharge and indicated he would prefer to let the matter be decided in Court.  He was granted his discharge on 30th March 1942. 

The problem arose because Bill and his father share the same first name…John.  To try and avoid any confusion John Junior and grown up with the name Billy which then became Bill as an adult.  Several years after Bill's discharge in September 1917 the Army directed all mail to “John Jackson” so it was his father who received the letters advising that Bill’s DCM had been cancelled.  In trying to rectify what seems to be a bureaucratic error the AIF asked John Jackson to return the official DCM award notification he had been sent.  John Jackson claimed it was no longer in his possession.  By this stage Bill was living in Kensington, Sydney, close to members of his father's family and had no knowledge of any correspondence with the Army in regards to his DCM Medal.  The Army seems to have relented, probably on advice from the War Office in London, because Bill re-enlisted at Paddington NSW on 16th April 1942.  His service number was N391402, his rank Corporal and he was assigned to the 2nd Australian Labour Company.  Bill transferred to the Headquarters of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) on 1st June 1942 then at his own request, discharged from the service on 14th September 1942. 

In 1953 Bill moved to Melbourne and began working as a commissionaire at the Melbourne Town Hall.  That same year he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. 

During the Royal Tour in 1954 Bill was given several honoured roles.  In Sydney he was introduced to the Royal Couple when they visited the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park and in Melbourne he unfurled the Royal Standard as the Queen stepped from her car on arrival at the Melbourne Town Hall.  The following year Bill and Ivy divorced, then in 1956, the Melbourne City Council granted Bill 6 months leave on full pay to allow him to sail on SS Oracles with 33 other VC recipients to attend the VC Centenary Celebrations in England.  He was seriously ill during the voyage and on arrival in England was admitted to a London Hospital for six weeks.  He was only allowed out to attend a garden party given by Queen Elizabeth, at Marlborough House, Pall Mall on 26th June, before he was flown home.  After recovering, he returned to work at the Melbourne Town Hall. 

On 4th August 1959, Bill collapsed at the Melbourne Town Hall and was taken to the Austin Hospital (since amalgamated with the Repatriation General Hospital), Heidelburg, where he passed away of arteriosclerotic heart disease later that day, aged just 61 years.  His remains were cremated at Springvale Cemetery with full military honours and his ashes placed in the Boronia Gardens.  Bill had been living with his father at Ivanhoe and was a member of the Carlton Sub-branch of the RSL.  He was survived by his daughter, Dorothea.

Bill is commemorated on several memorials in NSW…Gunbar District Roll of Honour WW1, Gunbar Presbyterian Church Roll of Honour WW1, North Bondi War Memorial, Victoria Cross Memorial located in the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, and Private Jackon Park located at Gungal south of Merriwa NSW.  It’s a rest area named after Bill and features a stone monument with a plaque dedicated to him.  He’s also commemorated on the Winchelsea WW1 Memorial in Victoria, the Keith Payne VC Memorial Park in Queensland, the John Hamilton VC Pictorial Honour Roll and the Hall of Valour, both located at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT.  A unique memorial commemorating Bill and his fellow Australian VC recipients is found at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire UK, where they have engraved their names on individual paving stones. 

John William Alexander Jackson was awarded for service in WW1 the Victoria Cross, 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and the Anzac Commemorative Medallion.  For service in WW2 he was awarded the War Medal 1939-1945 and the Australia Service Medal 1939-1945. 

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith 30th November 2023.

Sources

The Lost Boys by Paul Byrnes (book)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jackson-32655

https://haywarmem-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/h/haywarmem-h/newsletter/2020/11/WHT4Wk5.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jackson_(Australian_soldier)