Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

This moving epitaph is on the headstone of Gunner Morris Myer Isaacs of the 10th Field Artillery Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, in the British Military Cemetery at Querrieu, France. Morris Isaacs enlisted in the AIF in Mackay, Queensland, on 12 August 1916 as Charles Morris Jackson. It would be kind to say that his service in the AIF was ‘interesting’. It’s not clear why he changed his name. The surname “Isaacs” typically identifies a person as being Jewish so perhaps he wanted to hide that or perhaps he was disguising previous civil convictions which might have prevented him being accepted into the AIF. According to his enlistment papers he was born in London and he originally listed his mother, ‘Mary Jackson’ as his next-of-kin but some time later he changed this to his father William Jackson (actually Mark Isaacs) with an address in Glasgow.
Gunner Jackson left Australia on the 19th December 1916 with the 9th Field Artillery Brigade Reinforcements, arrived in England on 17 February and undertook training along with thousands of other Australian and Commonwealth troops in the Salisbury district. It was during this training that Jackson first came to the attention of the military authorities. He was charged with stealing from another soldier in May 1917 and convicted on this charge at a Court-Martial on the 23rd June. Stealing is a serious offence but stealing from your comrades-in-arms undermines military effectiveness and is treated very seriously by the authorities and often by the soldiers on the unit who deal out some unauthorized punishment of their own. For this crime, as well as an additional offence of escaping from detention, Jackson was sentenced to detention for 160 days and had a forfeiture of pay of 218 days. It seems that some of the sentence was remitted because by September he was back in a unit at Lark Hill, England, and was taken on strength of the 10th Field Artillery Brigade in France in October. Just one month later he was badly injured by a kick from a horse and was back in England in a hospital. Jackson went absent without leave in December 1917 whilst at a Convalescent Depot and was apprehended in Edinburgh on 31 December – Hogmanay which is a big cultural event in Scotland. Perhaps he was on his way to see his father in Glasgow? He pleaded guilty to this charge along with using a false pass and received a sentence of six months. This seems a very harsh punishment, but it may be that the previous unserved time in detention was put back on his sentence. He was in locked up at the Devizes Detention Barracks in Wiltshire from 28 February to 5 June 1918 and was back in France at the front by the 15th of June. 71 days of his sentence was remitted. This was unfortunate for Gunner Jackson as he was killed just 17 days later on 2 July 1918 near the very small village of Hamelet, bordering Corbie while the 10th Field Artillery Brigade was preparing for the Battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918.
There were American troops attached to the Australian forces for the Battle of Hamel and it seems that Jackson was talking to some of these when an enemy artillery shell landed quite close to them. Four of the Americans were wounded, and Jackson was killed immediately. Interestingly the War Diary of the 10th Field Artillery Brigade makes no mention of any soldiers killed that day. Additionally, the Red Cross conducted an investigation into Jackson’s death which would indicate that some uncertainty existed as to his death. Soldiers from his unit told the Red Cross that they saw him killed by the enemy shell and that he was buried in Querrieu cemetery. Others said that he was buried elsewhere but the Red Cross reached the conclusion that he was buried at Querrieu. Most didn’t know him well as he had spent most of the war either in jail of hospital. The military authorities had difficulty in advising his next-of-kin of his death as they were looking for a William Jackson in Scotland or a Mary Jackson in Australia. For this reason, his name was initially withheld from the published casualty lists.
Just a few weeks later on 28 August 1918, a Miss Dot Passmore, wrote to Base Records in Melbourne, claiming that Jackson was her “intended husband” and that she had been informed that he was killed in action on 2 July. In later letters she claimed that Jackson had promised her his estate in event of his death. Jackson’s estate consisted of just the usual personal effects such as a trench coat, wallets, and a watch among other items. It’s not clear whether Dot Passmore received Jackson’s personal effects but it seems that at one point she was living with his parents on Illawarra Rd, Arncliffe, Sydney.
Over a century since his death, there are still many unanswered questions. Why did he enlist under an assumed name? Were his parents also using the name “Jackson” or was he lying on his enlistment documents? Where and when did he and Dot Passmore become engaged? It seems that Miss Passmore was from Sydney and he enlisted in Queensland. Why did the Red Cross conduct an investigation into his death? Being killed by enemy artillery was not out of the ordinary and there is no indication that his body was unidentifiable as a result of the shell. Also, the War Diary makes no mention of any soldiers killed that day, which while not compulsory, was usual in many units, even if their names weren’t recorded. The theft in barracks, was this a continuation of previous behaviour, prior to enlisting and hence the assumed name?
If Jackson had been allowed, or forced, to serve out his full sentences for the crimes that he committed, it’s possible that he may have survived the War. Amongst all of this uncertainty, one thing is certain, the epitaph chosen for his grave in Querrieu British Cemetery is beautifully expressed by his parents. “When days are dark and friends are few, my dear son how I long for you”.
Rest in Peace Morris Myer Isaacs.
Sources
Australian War Memorial, https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search/people?people_preferred_name=isaacs&people_service_number=31011&people_unit=, accessed 19 January 2024.
National Archives of Australia, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7360252, accessed 19 January 2024.