A century on from the end of World War I we acknowledge their service …
Lest we forget.
Corporal John Alfred ‘Jack’ Ellett
Born: 27 May 1894 Springvale. Died: 7 January 1965 Bendigo.
Enlisted: 19 December 1914 aged 20
Served: Egypt, Gallipoli and Western Front
Jack was the second of the Ellett brothers to serve during WWI. A farmer like his father, he was only 20 he enlisted with his parents‘ consent. He was regarded as a “popular townsman” and had a reputation as a singer: “Handsome Jack” with his “silvery voice” was regarded as the “star singer” at social gatherings of young people in Pakenham South before the war.
Jack was injured on Gallipoli and, after recovering, in late 1915 was attached to the Western Frontier Force at Mersa Matrah in Western Egypt. On 13 December, he was shot and seriously wounded in the right thigh and evacuated to hospital in Alexandria where he was added to the dangerously ill list (he may have developed blood poisoning), remaining on that list for more than a month. In February 1916, Jack was struck down with enteric fever (typhoid) and was later sent to the Red Cross Convalescence Depot at Montazah to recover. Family and friends back home thought Jack might be transferred to Australia but this did not occur, as Jack recovered and returned to duty in April 1916.
In June 1916, it was reported back home that Pakenham’s “singing soldier” was due to head to the Front soon. The newspaper stated that Jack was “deserving of the highest praise for his gallantry whilst under fire in the west of Egypt, and wounded and ill he endured the severe suffering with that quiet patience so characteristic of him. Our sincere wishes for his safety are with this soldier who so often charmed us with his God given gift of song, and now willingly risks his life at his country’s call”.
Jack saw action again and returned to Australia early 1919, later that year marrying Ellen Sayers the “girl he left behind, who remained faithful through the years he was away”. Jack and Ellen raised six children on a soldiers‘ settler farm in Pakenham South, which was named “Montazah” after the convalescent home in Egypt where Jack had recovered from his wounds. He built up a small milking herd while also growing crops such as field peas and maize. Jack’s health though, was not good. In 1932 he was hospitalised at Caulfield after suffering severe nerve trouble which affected his spine and limbs, which made it difficult for him to move.
As time went on, he required more and more assistance on the farm, with Ellen and the children increasingly taking up the heavy work, assisted by Jack’s brothers. As Montazah was only a relatively small property, the family also took on the Pakenham South post-office to help make ends meet financially.
The Pakenham Gazette described Jack as “an enthusiast for any work which he took in hand”, and aside from his family and farm, there were three great passions in his life: the RSL, music and cricket. He became known throughout the district and beyond as a “great man for the Diggers”. Membership of Ern Gabbett’s orchestra gave Jack an outlet for his musical talent. In terms of cricket, Jack was such a “tragic” that he even laid a turf wicket in one of his paddocks.
His nephew Barry Ellett tells the story of how one day, a cricket match Jack was playing in went on till the evening without a result. Instead of calling it stumps for the day, Jack and his mates went back to their properties, got their Model T cars and trucks and used the headlights to continue playing into the night until one side eventually won!
In 1944, Jack stood for election to Berwick Shire Council, but was defeated in Iona Ward by another former WWI Digger, Tom Houlihan. In 1946, Jack and Ellen sold their Pakenham South farm and moved to a dairy property at Mountain View, Poowong East.
This is an extract from Patrick Ferry’s book A Century After The Guns Fell Silent – Remembering the Pakenham District’s WWI Diggers 1914-18.
For more details on this and other profiles in the book, head to the website www.pakenhamww1.com
