Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

James Hercules Harold Anderson was born in 1892 at Benambra, Victoria. At the time of his birth his father, William (1870 to 1945), was 22, and his mother, Martha (1868 to 1961), was 24. James had two brothers and two sisters. They were William John (1893 to 1968), Francis Edward (1896 to 1986), Stella Elizabeth (1898 to 1983) and Valerie (1902 to 1973).

On the 3 September, 1915, James enlisted in the AIF (Australian Imperial Forces) at Melbourne Victoria. He was given the service number 1942 and was put on strength with the 14th Reinforcements of the 8th Light Horse Regiment.

Upon enlistment, James was 5 foot 8 inches (172 cm) tall and weighed 9 stone 8 lbs (57 kg). His complexion was given as dark, eyes brown and hair black. James’ records show that he had the distinctive marks of fake molars, three vaccination marks on the left arm and a scar on his back. James’s religious denomination was given as Roman Catholic.

James embarked on the HMAT A1 Hymettus on the 27 January, 1916, sailing from Melbourne, Victoria. The trip would take him across the Great Australian Bight to Fremantle, on to Colombo, in Ceylon, before finally disembarking at Suez, at the southern end of the Suez Canal, in Egypt.

James’ service details are taken up by the website “Racing to the Front - Stories of the Victorian Jockeys who served in the Great War”:

"At Heliopolis, James was transferred to the 4th Division Artillery Brigade, joining them at Alexandria and shipping out after training in June 1916 to Marseilles in France. Throughout June he spent several days in hospital with influenza followed by acute bronchitis. In July, as part of the Somme offensive, he was again hospitalised with bronchitis at the 3rd Canadian General Hospital and was sent immediately aboard St Denis for Dover in England. In August and September he spent time at Perham Down and Park House in Burford. By the end of November, he had recovered sufficiently to be sent from Folkestone to France to join the war again.

Further illness – influenza – saw James sent to the Field Ambulance in May of 1917, which turned into pneumonia where he was sent to Rouen in France and then aboard HS Western Australia to England. He returned to the field and the 4th DAC (Divisional Ammunition Column) and remained in France until February 1918 when again he contracted bronchitis and was returned to the field hospital. In October of 1918, he was permitted 11 days leave to England. James remained on duty until March 1919 when he was again sent to Bulford with illness and then back to Park House. By April, he was given a medical discharge and returned to Australia aboard HS Goorkha. In April 1919, for his service during the war he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Upon returning home, James continued to reside at Towong and in 1924 was still employed as a jockey. In 1927, he married Florence Rixon in Corryong and they had four children. Tragedy first struck the family in 1936, when son Kevin died of illness in hospital. Three weeks later, Florence was admitted to hospital and it was on his way home from buying a Mother’s Day card for the other three children to take to their mum in hospital, that the bicycle he was riding was struck by the local vet’s car.

Despite surviving race falls that had broken collar bones and bruised his back, and serving several years on the European Front, it was with a fractured skull and cerebral haemorrhage caused by a vehicle accident that James was delivered to an early grave. The Albury RSL took up the family’s cause and raised over 100 pounds."

The 15 May, 1936, edition of the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express detailed the accident:

Death Of Cyclist
"The Circumstances surrounding the death of James Hercules Anderson, 43, a returned soldier and relief worker, who was killed at Albury on Saturday were also investigated by Mr. Swiney.

It was revealed that recently Anderson’s wife had been ill in hospital and three weeks ago one of his children died. Anderson himself had only been out of hospital three days, and was due to return for an operation and that in his pocket when picked up after the accident was a card which he was taking home for his children to give to their mother for mother’s day.

The coroner's findings were that Anderson's death was due to a fractured skull cerebral haemorrhage, such injuries being accidentally sustained when the bicycle he was riding collided with a motor car driven by Luke Thomas Hepburn. He also found that there was no blame attachable to Hepburn.

Luke Thomas Hepburn, veterinary surgeon, Smollet Street, Albury, stated that on Saturday May 8, he was driving into Albury from Walla Walla. Just as he was passing Wantagong Street another car approached. Each car was on its correct side. As his car was passing the other vehicle a man on a bicycle shot out from behind it a few feet in front of his car. The man had his head down. The car struck the man and bicycle and lifted both into the air and hurled them to the other side of the road."

Extract from "Light Horsemen of the Upper Murray", Year 5 and 6 Project, Corryong College.