William "Willie" Henry Jackson (1890-1966)
South Shields man served with Australian Army in France
On 16 April 1917, Willie Jackson was posted as missing in action in Boursies on the Bapaume-Cambrai road. He had been captured and was being held at Limburg Prisoner of War (POW) Camp, before being transferred to the large camp for other ranks at Friedrichsfeld bei Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia.
William Henry Jackson was the second child and first son of Henry Jackson, a painter and sign-writer, and his wife, Rose, from South Shields. Willie was born there on 10 March 1890, and would eventually have seven brothers and sisters over the next 17 years. When he left school, Willie was apprenticed as a farmhand for three years to Mr W Shepherd, a farmer living in North Shields. By 1911, Willie had moved to Stocksfield, Northumberland, where he was living and working for Henry and Elizabeth Ridley at Old Ridley Farm. Willie stayed there until May 1912 when he left London with more than 200 other young agricultural labourers aboard the “Armadale”. They reached Fremantle on 1 July 1912, to start new lives working on the farms of Western Australia (WA).
Three years later, Willie decided to join the Australian Army, enlisting as a private at Blackboy Hill, WA, on 24 September 1915. After basic training at the huge army depot in Blackoy Hill, Willie embarked on 17 January 1916, with the 13th Reinforcements of the 11 Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, bound for Suez, and then on to the Western Front. He was posted to “A” Company and, on 30 May, had his first experience of combat. Late that night, German Artillery bombarded the Allied Line around the Cordonnerie Salient before the infantry launched a raid on the 11th Battalion trenches. It was a baptism of fire for the raw recruits like Willie: four men were captured, 37 killed and 70 wounded that night.
Almost inevitably, Willie saw action over the next few months in the Somme Valley, in the areas around Pozieres and Mouquet Farm, before being sent to the Ypres Sector. The Battalion then returned to the Somme Valley again at the end of the year, as the worst winter in 40 years set in along the Front. In March and early April 1917, the 11th Battalion were pushing forward towards the German Hindenburg Line, as part of the Third Brigade. It was in a supporting role for the Brigade, on 16 April, when Willie was posted as missing in action. He had been wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans, (though in later letters home to his mother, he failed to mention his injuries). He was taken initially to the POW Camp at Limburg where his wounds healed, before being transferred to the larger Camp at Friedrichsfeld bei Wesel. From there he wrote to his mum, still in South Shields, asking for news of home. Other men captured at the same time as him were now receiving correspondence from home and Willie was keen for news. He was also keen for parcels from home, to be sent via the Red Cross!
Willie would spend the next 14 months in the camp at Friedrichsfeld before finally being repatriated to England on 19 December 1918. He was able to spend the next five months with his family before he was returned to Australia on 21 April 1919, on the “Euripides”. Willie was discharged from the army on 5 June 1919, and returned to working on the land around Kalgoorlie, WA. He died in 1966, aged 76, in Swan, WA.
It seems that Willie volunteered for the Citizen Military Forces during the Second World War. He enlisted at Subiaco WA and named his next of kin as Vera Jackson. It is unlikely that he would have served abroad, considering his age.
Civil Parish: South Shields
Birth date: 10-Mar-1890
Death date: 1966
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 156 John Williamson St, Tyne Dock, South Shields, ecclesiastical parish of St Jude (1891 census)
24 Imeary St, Westoe, ecclesiastical parish of St Michael & All Saints (1901 census)
Old Ridley Farm, Stocksfield, Northumberland (1911 census)
Westonia, Yilgarn Kalgoorlie, WA (1935 electoral roll)
Employment: Farmhand (3 years apprenticed to W Shepherd of North Shields, then with Ridley Family in Stocksfield)
Family: Father: Henry Jackson (b 1861 in Seaham Harbour), painter & sign writer
Mother: Rose (b 1868 in South Shields)
Siblings: Louisa (b 1889) Fred (b1893) Albert (b 1894) Jane (b 1898) Ernest (b 1901) Herbert (b 1902) George (b 1906)
Military service:
Service Number 4229. Private in 11th Battalion, AIF
Enlisted at Blackboy Hill, WA, 24 September 1915
Taken prisoner of war 15 April 1916 at Boursies, France
International Red Cross reference number: PA12730 in Limburg Camp, numbers PA17461 and PA19121 at Friedrichsfeld bei Wesel.
Repatriated to England 19 December 1918
Discharged 5 June 1919
Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal
Gender: Male
Contributed by Kelloe Visitor, Trimdon Station