This legendary Australian is Capt. Albert Jacka. This Victoria native enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1914 as a private. After 10 weeks of training, his unit (14th Battalion) was sent to the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. On 19 May 1915, the Turks launched an assault against the Anzac Line, capturing a section of his trench. As the enemy overran his position, Jacka shot five and bayoneted two Turkish soldiers, forcing the remainder to flee the trench. He then held the trench alone for the remainder of the night. For his actions, Pvt. Jacka was awarded the Victoria Cross. In less then a few months, he achieved the rank of Co. Sgt.Maj. and continued to fight in Gallipoli for 9 more months. His unit then reached the trenches of France and by that time, Jacka became an Officer. On the morning of 7 August 1916, after a night of heavy shelling, the Germans began to overrun a portion of the line which included Jacka’s dug-out. Jacka had just completed a reconnaissance, and had gone to his dug-out when two Germans appeared at its entrance and rolled a bomb down the doorway, killing two of his men. Emerging from the dug-out, Jacka came upon a large number of Germans rounding up some forty Australians as prisoners. Without any hesitation Jacka charged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, liberated his Australian brothers, killed 20 Germans, captured 50 more and was wounded 7 times in the process. He was recommended for a second Victora Cross, but was only given a Military Cross due to the fact that the British gov. in all honesty didnt want a colonial rocking a bar on his VC. (another theory is that the men standing post on the line fell asleep and the Germans were able to infiltrate, therefore holding Jacka responsible for not checking up on his men).
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 07:15:53 +0000
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