Wedderburn Jacka Park Soldiers Memorial
Jacka Park, High Street and Chapel Street,Wedderburn, LODDON SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
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Wedderburn Jacka Park Soldiers Memorial - Physical Description 1
The memorial is a marble statue of a World War I soldier on a granite pillar and granite base with 4 granite wings on a circular flagstone base. The digger stands easy holding a rifle, faces west and is supported by a representation of a tree trunk. There is a flagpole on the north side. The entrance gates to the park form part of the memorial.
West face
THE GREAT WAR
1914 - 1919
Soldiers' names
On section below
WEDDERBURN'S
TRIBUTE
TO ITS SOLDIERS
WHO WENT OVERSEAS
Bronze shield on base
IN MEMORIAM
THEIR NAMES SHALL LIVE FOR EVERMORE
South face
Soldiers' names
East face
Soldiers' names
North face
Soldiers' names
Western pillar of entrance gates
1914 - 18.
DEDICATED
TO THE
MEMORY
OF
Eastern pillar of entrance gates
CPT.
ALBERT
JACKA
V.C.
M.C. & BAR.Wedderburn Jacka Park Soldiers Memorial - Historical Australian Themes
Remembering the fallen
Wedderburn Jacka Park Soldiers Memorial - Usage/Former Usage
Commemoration
Veterans Description for Public
Wedderburn Jacka Park Soldiers Memorial - Veterans Description for Public
The Wedderburn Jacka Park Soldiers Memorial was erected to commemorate soldiers of the First World War. The memorial is a marble statue of a First World War Digger on a granite pillar and granite base, withfour granite wings on a circular flagstone base. The Digger stands easy holding a rifle, faces west and is supported by a representation of a tree trunk. There is a flagpole on the north side. The entrance gates to the park form part of the memorial and are inscribed with "1914-18 Dedicated To The Memory of Cpt. Albert Jacka V.C. M.C. & BAR." The pillars are also inscribed with "The Great War 1914 - 1919" with a list of Soldiers' names from the Wedderburn area and the epigraph, "Their Names Shall Live For Ever More." Jacka received the first Victoria Cross to be awarded to the AIF in the First World War.
Albert Jacka was born near Winchelsea but moved to Wedderburn when he was five. He landed at Anzac Cove on 26 April 1915. At 3am on 19 May, the Turkish forces attacked just about the entire front line above Anzac Cove. The Australians replled the Turks, except at Courtney's Post, where the ground favoured the Turks. At about 4am, the Turkish soldiers entered part of Courtney's trenches, forcing the Anzacs to withdraw. The Turkish soldiers wwere blocked to the south by soldiers of the 14th Battalion, and to the north by Lance Corporal Albert Jacka, 22. Lieutentant Keith Crabbe asked Jacka if he could retake the trench. The attempt he made failed, and resulted in two of the three men who joined Jacka being injured in the counter-attack. A second attempt was made, with Crabbe creating a diversion while Jacka worked his way around the Turks' flank.
Jacka entered the trenchm shot five men and bayoneted two others. Jacka's first words to Crabbe were, "I managed to get the beggars, sir" (Bean 1941). It was for this action that he was awarded the Victoria Cross and became a national hero. John Wren gave him a gold watch and £500, and he featured on recruiting posters and magazine covers.
After being commissioned as second lieutenant in early 1916, Jacka and the 14th Battalion were at Pozieres in August. He he was awarded the Military Cross at Bullecourt on 8 April 1917 when he led a night reconnaisance party into no-man's-land to inspect enemy defences before an Allied attack against the new German line. He penetrated the wire at two places, reported back, then went out again to supervise the laying of tapes to guide the infantry. The work was virtually finished when two Germans loomed up. Realising that they would see the tapes, Jacka knew that they must be captured. He pulled his pistol; it misfired, so he rushed on and captured them by hand.
A few months later, at Messines, he led his company in capturing a field gun. In Polygon Wood, Jacka was praised for his role in rallying the troops. In May 1918, he was badly gassed and evacuated ot England. A member of the 14th Battalion wrote:
He deserved the Victoria Cross as thoroughly at Pozieres, Bullecourt and at Ypres as at Gallipoli...The whole AIF came to look on him as a rock of strength that never failed. We of the 14th Battalion never ceased to be thrilled when we heard of ourselves referred to...by passing units on the march as "some of Jacka's mob." (Rule 1999)
A large crowd, including the Governor General, greeted his ship whe it berthed at Melbourne in 1919, and a convoy of eighty-five cars with Jacka at its head drove to the town hall where men from the 14th Battalion welcomed their famous comrade. He was demobilised in January 1920.
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WEDDERBURN GOVERNMENT BATTERYVictorian Heritage Inventory
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HARD HILL PUDDLERVictorian Heritage Inventory
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DEPARTMENTAL GRAVES SITE (WILSON ROAD, WEDDERBURN)Victorian Heritage Inventory
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