Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Jack Boddy Forrest was born on the 23rd of February, 1895 in Kingston, South Australia. His real given name is ‘John’, but ‘Jack’ was his preferred name and was what all his comrades and friends called him.

On his service record, it said C of E (Church of England), which meant that he was a Protestant. It is a denomination of Christianity.

His early life is unknown but he attended Rose Park Public School and Norwood High School. He attended and graduated from Rose Park Public School. Rose Park Public School was founded only two years before he was born (it was founded in 1893). This school is now called Rose Park Primary School.

The secondary school he went to was Norwood High School, now called Norwood Morialta High School, founded in 1910. 

Jack Boddy Forrest was an Australian Army Cadet (formed in 1906) for three years when he was younger, this gave him extra leadership skills and musket training before enlisting in WW1. The Australian Army Cadets were different from regular Compulsory Military Training Schemes in schools. AAC had separate, after school training and was funded by the government. This meant that he had a previous interest in the military before World War One started.

Before the war, he worked as a warehouseman. This was a tiring job, but it probably helped him build strength and endurance before he enlisted.

He was enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force when he was twenty years old and six months on the 16th of May, 1915. He was single at the time. He started out in 2nd Depot Battalion for his recruit training and stayed there until the 25th of August, 1916, when he transferred into another battalion.

Jack demonstrated great leadership and obeyed every order well, which earned him a promotion to a Corporal on the 15th of November, 1915.

Jack started his (Senior) Non-commissioned Officer’s training on the 1st of January, 1916. At that time, he was still a Corporal. His training was finally finished on the 15th of February. He displayed great leadership, confidence, and bravery and was officially considered a Sergeant. He most likely felt very proud of himself and knew that his father, his next-of-kin, would be proud of him too. 

He was then transferred to the 32nd Infantry Battalion on the 25th of August, 1916 – they lost many soldiers at the Battle of Fromelles (718 people), to replace the lost personnel from the Battle of Fromelles. At that moment, he might’ve felt lucky that he missed the battle by one month.

The day he was transferred to the 32nd Infantry Battalion (25th August 1916), the battalion was attacked and set on fire by two enemy shells. Forrest was probably feeling shocked and worried if this squadron transfer was really a good idea. 

For the rest of 1916, the 32nd Infantry Battalion worked as support for other battalions, as a result of losing so many people in the Battle of Fromelles and traumatising many others in the battalion. However, nearing the end of 1916, during the Winter, they were assigned to defensive duties on the Somme.

On the 27th of December, 1916, Jack Boddy Forrest was sent to the Graylingwell War Hospital for mild trench feet. Trench feet is caused by improper feet hygiene. Feet exposed to a lot of moisture because of the damp environment will stick to surfaces surrounding the foot and bacteria will grow extremely fast around the feet, and since the soldiers did not have time to air out their feet or properly clean their feet, eventually, the skin on the bottom of the feet grew onto the sock Once a medic takes the socks or boots off, a chuck of skin will come off too. Trench feet hurts soldiers so much that they cannot walk, and since WW1 had many Infantry soldiers, Trench Feet impacted many armies greatly. 

Jack sent his father a 14-page letter to his father. That letter described transferring to the 32nd Infantry Battalion after the Battle of Fromelles and Fleublair in 1916 and his involvement in a raid of the enemy lines with the 32nd and 31st Battalion at Armentieres. Jack probably felt like he was pouring all his feelings into the letters, because he can be open to his father and discuss his fears and be proud of his achievements, unlike with comrades, because they might just think that he was not a good enough leader, or brave enough just because he discussed his fears. It’s braver to admit your fears than to hide them.

In early 1917, the battalion chased Germans as they retreated towards the Hindenburg Line, but somehow it changed into flank protection during the Second Battle of Bullecourt in May as soon as the chasing operation finished. The battalion was probably confused as to what they were to do because one moment the order was to pursue the Germans, then the next was to protect the flank in the Second Battle of Bullecourt.

On the 26th of September, 1917, the 32nd Infantry Battalion was in Battle of Passchendaele as support, they mainly fought around the Polygon Wood near Ypres. From the photos taken, it looked very damp, so it was probably very difficult to live in those conditions where bacteria and germs parties all night long.

The 32nd Battalion took part in operations in the Peronne area throughout August and September as the Triple Entente tried to breach the Hindenburg Line, fighting its final battle of the war between 29th September and 1st October 1918 as part of a joint Australian and American attack along the St Quentin Canal.

He was discharged from service on the 29th of September, 1919. He probably felt relieved that all of the tiring, terrifying, and traumatising war was over and he could finally get back to his family in Norwood. 

Jack received the British War Medal and Victory Medal, which was issued to every Australian who participated in the war. He was not eligible for the 14/15 Star, even though he joined in the middle of 1915, probably because he didn’t finish his recruit until early 1916.

It was unclear whether he had descendants or not.

He died of old age on the 21st of February 1976. His body was most likely taken back to Norwood, where his family lived and buried in a cemetery there.