Jarvis, Jack
3494 Private Jack Jarvis - 16th Battalion AIF
Jack Jarvis was born in Fremantle in 1892 to Sarah Ann and Raglan Jarvis. He was one of seven children born into the family with, Clara (1878), Alfred (1879), Adelaide (1882), Mabel (1885), Lucy (1887) and George (1890).
The family lived in High Street Fremantle and George was educated locally. After leaving school he took up work as a shop assistant at the Union Stores in Fremantle.
On the 29th July 1915 Jack enlisted into the AIF. He was found to be fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 5 & 1/4 inches tall;
Weight - 138lbs;
Chest Measurement - 34-36 inches;
Complexion - Dark;
Eyes - Grey;
Hair - Dark.
After being passed as fit for service, Jack was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he went into the infantry training depot to undergo the basics of infantry training. On the 27th September 1915 Jack was assigned to the 11th Reinforcements to the 16th Battalion.
Jack had a few more weeks of training with this group in WA but their embarkation orders soon arrived and on the 1st November 1915, Jack boarded the transport ship HMAT Benalla in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for Egypt.
The ship arrived in Egypt three weeks later and the men were disembarked. They would have been expecting to be sent on to Gallipoli to join their unit but as the battlefield was going to be evacuated the men were retained in Egypt.
Jack remained in the 4th Training Battalion for the next two months. In February 1916 he came down ill and was sent to Hospital in Alexandria. He was soon diagnosed with jaundice and he would spend the next few months in hospital recovering.
By the time he had recovered in June 1916, the 16th Battalion had already departed for France so Jack was sent to the AIF details camp at Tel-el-Kebir. Jack eventually departed Egypt on the 6th August 1916 and was shipped to England.
Jack was then marched into the 4th Training Battalion on the Salisbury Plains. On the 23rd September 1916 Jack was assigned to a reinforcement group leaving the 4th Training Battalion. He proceeded across the Channel to France and the following day was sent to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples.
Jack remained here for the next few weeks, finally joining the 16th Battalion on the 17th October 1916. The 16th Battalion were then on the Somme battlefield and would remain here through the French winter of 1916/17.
Jack survived the next few months unscathed including the action at Stormy Trench in February 1917. Just after this action the Germans withdrew to a pre-planned defensive site called the Hindenburg Line.
On the 11th April 1917 the 16th Battalion were involved in an attack on the German positions at the Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt. Unfortunate despite getting into the German trenches the attack was not a success and casualties were heavy. Jack was hit through the arm and hand by shrapnel and was evacuated to the 1st General Hospital at Etretat France. After surgery to repair the damage Jack was sent to hospital in England on the 25th April 1917. He was admitted to the 2nd Southern General Hospital in Bristol. He remained in hospital here until the 11th June 1917.
Jack's wounds were assessed as serious enough that he would not be able to return to the front, so he was sent to the AIF Camp at Weymouth to await a hospital ship to return home.
On the 27th July 1917 Jack boarded the hospital ship Demosthenes and set sail for home, arriving at Fremantle on the 18th September 1917. He was then sent to No.8 Australian general Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle to have his wounds assessed.
On the 15th March 1918 Jack was discharged from the AIF. He was then granted a pension of 60/- per fortnight. He also returned to the employment of the Union Stores.
In 1920 in Beaconsfield he married Gladys Pierce and they would have a daughter called Betty. They lived at 54 Hampton Road.
In April 1937 Jack died suddenly aged 44. The Fremantle Times newspaper reported that;