• Title
  Facsimile of the Victoria Cross awarded to John William Alexander Jackson, March 1916
• Creator
  John William Alexander Jackson, 1897-1959
• Call number
  MLMSS 8667
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  March 1916
• Type of material
  Textual Records, Ephemera
• Reference code
  991908
• Issue Copy
  Digitised
• Physical Description
  0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder) - manuscript - printed ;
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  John William Alexander Jackson, 1897-1959, soldier, hotel-keeper, farmer and clerk, was born on 13 September 1897 at Gunbar near Hay, New South Wales. He enlisted as a private in the 17th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, on 20 February 1915 and left Sydney in May. After training in Egypt the battalion landed at Gallipoli on 20 August; in April 1916 the battalion left for the Western Front. For his courage under fire at Bois Grenier, near Armentières, France, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. This was cancelled, however, and he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his 'splendid example of pluck and determination'. The citation stated: 'his work has always been marked by the greatest coolness and bravery'. Jackson died on 4 August 1959 in Melbourne. He was the youngest Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross in World War I and his was the first V.C. to be awarded to a member of the A.I.F. in France.
  
  Reference:
  http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jackson-john-william-alexander-6813 (accessed 22 August 2012)
• Scope and Content
  Includes two paper facsimiles of the Victoria Cross awarded to John W.A. Jackson. Both are signed on the back by Jackson and have a small piece of purple ribbon attached. The crosses were signed on Red Cross Day in March 1916. According to the accompanying letter received by the Mitchell Library, the medals were signed by Jackson using his left hand - his right hand having been blown off whilst he was under fire at Bois Grenier.
• Copying Conditions
  Copyright status:: In copyright
  Research & study copies allowed: Author has been deceased for more than 50 years
  Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
• General note
  
  These documents came to the Mitchell Library in response to the Library's general appeal for diaries and other papers of Australian servicemen and women who served in World War 1.
  Digitised 2014
  Digital order no:Album ID : 1238445
• Subject
  World War, 1914-1918--Campaigns--Western Front.
  Military decorations--Commonwealth countries
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE8682465

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