Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Vincent John Stephen Jordan was the son of Mrs Elizabeth Jordan, and was born in January 1880 in Sydney, New South Wales. He was a single farmer raised with Roman Catholic traditions when he enlisted at the relatively late age compared to other soldiers – 35. Vincent moved several times before his enlistment, eventually settling interstate from most of his family in the Exeter Hotel in Rundle Street, Adelaide, while his mother lived in Navier Street, Fitzroy, Victoria.

Vincent enlisted at Keswick on the 26th of July 1915 and spent several months in Australia before being promoted to Sergeant on the 16th of January 1916. He continued to serve in Australia with various Battalions and Depots until he was transferred to the 43rd Battalion on the 7th of March 1916 as a Private. Immediately, Vincent was promoted back to Sergeant but then later demoted to Corporal. No reason was given so this may have been simply due to numbers.

On the 9th of June, the entire Battalion was preparing for departure. Vincent and his company left Morphettville Station on a train bound for the Outer Harbor port. Upon reaching Port Adelaide, the train carrying Vincent went down Vincent Street, passing by an enthusiastic crowd bidding farewell to the Unit. Both trains finally arrived at Outer Harbor an hour later, and Vincent and the Battalion embarked on board the S.S. Afric, a White Star liner weighing at least 10,000 tons.

The boat made its way to the Bight; a rough, cold journey with sickness rates of over 70% of the men. Land was sighted at the daybreak of the 13th of June, and the following few weeks were a voyage to the Suez Canal. Finally, they arrived on the 11th of July, with the liner reaching Port Said, an Egyptian city at the end of the Canal in the morning of the 12th of July,

After landing briefly in Egypt, the Battalion continued to Britain for further training. The Battalion arrived on the Western Front in late December. The 43rd Battalion spent time in bloody trench warfare in Flanders. In June the Battalion took part in the Battle of Messines and in October the Third Battle of Ypres.

In 1917, Vincent was again promoted. First, his Corporal rank was confirmed on the 10th of April 1917 and, a day later, he was temporarily promoted to Sergeant. This rank was confirmed on the 1st of June 1917. Vincent would go on to receive to more promotions, finally as Company Quartermaster Sergeant on the 29th of January 1919.

Vincent and his Battalion spent most of 1918 fighting in the Somme Valley. In April the Battalion helped stop the German Spring Offensive at Villers-Bretonneux. In July the Battalion was part of General Monash's attack at Hamel. In August and September, the Battalion helped drive the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line. Vincent was slightly wounded on the 30th of September 1918. At 11 am on 11 November 1918, the guns fell silent on the Western Front, where Vincent was fighting. Vincent’s job fighting was over. Following the Treaty of Versailles, he returned to Australia on the 22nd of July 1919, and was discharged in September of that year.

After the war, Vincent did not return to being a farmer and instead became a hotel manager. He spent time in the Royal Adelaide Hospital for 46 days during 1925-1926. Later, he would be accused of filing a fraudulent tax return which was later dropped in court. After that accusation, Vincent was repeatedly fined as the manager of the East End Market Hotel under Section 206 of the Licencing Act at the time. Vincent died on the 6th of January 1953 at the age of 73. He is buried at the A.I.F. Cemetery, West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.