Albert Jacka

Jacka married Frances Veronica Carey in 1921. The couple later adopted a daughter.

He had suffered many injuries during his military career and never fully recovered from them. His health began deteriorating when he was just in his thirties and he died from chronic nephritis on 17 January 1932. He was just 39.

Albert Jacka was born near Winchelsea, Victoria on a dairy farm on 10 January 1893. He was the fourth of seven children born to Nathaniel Jacka and his English-born wife Elizabeth (ńee Kettle).

He attended a local school for a few years and thereafter he started working. Initially he worked with his father as a haulage contractor and later accepted a job with the Victorian State Forests Department.

The World War I broke out in 1914. Jacka immediately enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. Assigned the rank of a private, he was sent for training at Broadmeadows Camp.

Meanwhile Turkey became a German ally and Jacka’s battalion was sent to Alexandria. The battalion received ten weeks of rigorous training in Cairo and was merged with New Zealand brigades to form the New Zealand and Australian Division (NZ&A) under Major General Alexander Godley. A brave man, Jacka quickly earned a reputation as a fearsome front-line soldier.

His division landed at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli Peninsula, in April 1915 for what became known as the Gallipoli Campaign. On 19 May 1915, the Turks launched a counter-attack along a major stretch of the Anzac line. A frenzied fighting broke out following which some of the Turks captured a twelve-yard (11 m) section of the trench.

Jacka was guarding one of the ends of the trench, and he promptly devised a plan to remove the Turks. Two bombs were lobbed at the Turks, and Jacka attacked them from the rear. He shot five Turks and bayoneted two others. The remaining Turks fled away in terror. His action in the campaign made him a national hero and he was bestowed with honors and awards.

Albert Jacka received rapid promotions following this event. He was made a corporal, then a sergeant, and then company sergeant major in quick successions. As a company sergeant major of C Company, he oversaw much action at Gallipoli where his battalion took part in an Allied offensive. After nine months of fighting which resulted in the deaths of several thousands of Australians, Jacka's battalion was withdrawn to Egypt.

Albert Jacka became a national hero because of the valor and courage he displayed during the Gallipoli Campaign in the World War I. After the Turks launched an assault against the Anzac Line and captured a section of the trench at Courtney's Post, Jacka fought bravely and shot five Turkish soldiers and bayoneted two others to defend the trench.