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Private John William Alexander Jackson

Unit: 17th Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Division
Action: 25-26 June 1916, near Armentieres, France
Jackson was part of a group of Australians who entered the German trenches on the Western Front on the night of June 25-26. The raiding party was hit by heavy fire returning to their trench. Jackson got back to his trench leading a German prisoner, but then returned into the heavy shell-fire to bring in a wounded man.

After bringing that man to safety, Jackson went back again, and was helping Sgt Hugh Camden bring in a badly wounded private when they were hit by shellfire that knocked Camden unconscious and blew off Jackson's right arm above the elbow. Jackson returned to his trench, and after an officer applied a tourniquet to the arm with a piece of stick and string, went out to search no-man's land for another half an hour until he was satisfied all wounded men were back safely. The citation says: ``He set a splendid example of pluck and determination. His work has always been marked by the greatest coolness and bravery.'' Jackson, at 18 years 10 months, remains the youngest Australian to receive a VC and this was the first of 53 Victoria Crosses to the AIF on the Western Front.

Biography: Jackson was awarded the army's highest honour but he quit the service at one point in dispute over the validity of his commendations. Born near Hay, NSW, on 13 September 1897, he was a drover when he joined the AIF on 15 February 1915. After training in Egypt he landed in Gallipoli on 20 August and was nearly shipped home after suffering dysentery but joined his unit in time to be shipped to France. He had been originally recommended for a Distinguished Conduct Medal, which was issued to him and then withdrawn because the higher award was issued, but he refused to hand it back and at one stage, during World War II, quit the army over the matter and told them to take him to court.

The army decided not to order him to return the medal, and Jackson rejoined the army three weeks later. After World War I, he tried farming before buying a pub in Wollongong and had a string of jobs during the Depression. He was married in 1932, and served between 1941-42 despite his disability. He was involved in a four-vehicle accident in 1946 and was charged with manslaughter but the case was dismissed.

In 1953 he moved to Melbourne and worked as the commissionaire with the Melbourne City Council. He died in 1959. Divorced in 1955, he was survived by his daughter.