Private 21152 John Jackson

John Jackson's name on the Helles Memorial. John Jarvis (bottom) is also a Tipton man.

Killed in Action on Friday, 6th August 1915, age 25.
Commemorated on Panel 104 to 113 of Helles Memorial, Turkey.

4th Bn., Worcestershire Regiment. 88th Brigade of 29th Division.

Son of William and Mary Jackson, of 3, Dudley Rd., Tividale, Tipton.
Born: Tipton, Enlisted: Dudley, Resident: Tipton.

First landed Balkans, 8th June 1915.
Medal entitlement: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Soldier's Papers at National Archives did not survive.

Commemorated on the Tipton Library Memorial.
Commemorated here because he appears on a Tipton memorial.

Link to Commonwealth War Graves Site: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/692391/

Genealogical Data

Birth of John Jackson registered March quarter 1890 in Dudley (mother nee Lewis).

1901 Census
5 Court 3 House, Dudley Port, Tipton, Staffs.
William Jackson (41, Rock Blower, born Tipton), his wife Mary (40, born Tipton) and 6 of their surviving 8 children of 10: William (14, Iron Worker, born Tipton), John (11, born Tipton), Thomas (10, born Tipton), James (8, born Tipton), Annie (6, born Tipton), Edward (4, Labourer, born Tipton).

1911 Census
199 Dudley Port, Tipton, Staffs.
William Jackson (59, Limestone Miner, born Dudley Port), his wife Mary (52, born Woodsetton). and 6 of their surviving 8 children of 10: John (22, Labourer, born Dudley Port), Thomas (20, Gardener, born Dudley Port), James (18, Millman, born Dudley Port), Annie (16, Factory Girl, born Dudley Port), Edward (16, Labourer, born Dudley Port), Joseph (12, born Dudley Port).

Personal Data

After John's death, his outstanding army pay and allowances amounted to £4/14/0d (4 pounds and 14 shillings); this was paid to his father, William, in June 1916. His War Gratuity was £3/0/0d (3 pounds exactly), this was also paid to his father in September 1919. The value of the War Gratuity suggests that John had enlisted within the previous 12 months.

The Dependant's Pension is a little confusing. One document has Pension crossed out and replaced with Gratuity (amount unspecified), but another shows what appears to be the value of a weekly pension. This says 5/9d (5 shillings and 9 pence) from 4th to 10th April 1917, then 6/3d (6 shillings and 3 pence) from 11th April 1917 for a period of 237 weeks, and finally 7/0d (7 shillings) 'for life'. The recipient was John's father, William, whose address was given as 199 Dudley Port, Tipton.

Action resulting in his death

Battle for Krithia Vineyard, 6th August 1915.
The 4th Worcesters were in action at Cape Helles in May 1915, but were withdrawn for a few days in a rest camp on Lemnos. They arrived back at 'W' Beach after dark on 28th July and moved to Gully Brach in preparation for action on 6th August. This was to be a subsidiary attack to the main attack from the Anzac area on the mountain of Sari Bair.

The 4th Worcesters, 800 strong, left the beach at 4.00am and moved into the assembly trenches. The Battle for Krithia Vineyard commenced at 2.20pm when the British guns started to fire, and the Turks immediately replied with shrapnel and high-explosive shells bursting all along the trenches.

In a letter written that day Ben Tromans of Cradley Heath described the scene as: "..it was not fit for a fly to get out of the trenches, for the shot and shells were flying everywhere, knocking the sand bags of the top of the trenches which we had to mount to get at the Turks".

At 3.50pm the battalion moved forward in four waves and as they crested a low rise they were cut down and what few men that reached the trenches were overcome by superior numbers of Turks in hand-to-hand fighting.

The casualties of the 4th Worcesters were given in the Regimental History as 16 Officers and 752 NCOs and Men wounded, killed or missing; this from an attacking force of approximately 800 men. During the night of 6th/7th August, a search of no-mans land brought in 300 wounded men. "Soldiers Died in the Great War" records that 359 Other Ranks were killed on 6th August, and many more would die from their wounds in subsequent days.

6 Tipton men were killed in action on that day: William Cooper, Eli Edwards, John Jackson, John Jarvis, Isaac Pagett, and David Summers, none have a known grave and all are commemorated on the Helles Memorial.

Newspaper Cuttings

None.