S5080
AYTON, Jack
| Service Number: | 21977 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 23rd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade |
| Born: | Norwood, SA, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Pulteney Grammar School WW1 & WW2 Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 20 May 1916: | Involvement Driver, 21977, 23rd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 May 1916: | Embarked Driver, 21977, 23rd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade, HMAT Medic, Melbourne | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Driver, 21977 |
Help us honour Jack Ayton's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cornerstone College
Jack Ayton fought in the battle of Jutland in 1916. Jack Ayton lived with his mother Julia Ayton in Mt Barker South Australia but he was born in Norwood. He worked as a farm labourer.
Jack Ayton was just 18 years and 9 months when he applied for a position in the war. From all the research I could gather I found that he was ranked as a Driver. I believe however he was not a vehicle driver but the Driver was a term used in the war meaning private.
A Private was a person in the war who were either hired, conscripted or mustered into service an officer commanding a battle group of an army. The rank private was initially use in the royal artillery for the men who drove the teams of horses which usually pulled guns. The usage of the word Private dates back to the 18th century. The importance of a private was to be the main form of transport and trade the soldiers had. They had a one of the hardest jobs I think of all the soldiers. Not only were they transporting weapons rite through enemy territory but they were risking their lives to save their country.
Ayton was farm labourer before departing for the war. He lived with his mother Julia Ayton. What happened to his father or whether he had siblings or not is unclear. He was born in Norwood and lived in Mt Barker South Australia. He embarked for war on the 20th of May 1916 from Melbourne. The ship he embarked on was called the HMAT Medic A7. So in a way Jack Ayton went from being a hard working farm boy to a front working weapon transporting soldier.
The ANZAC spirit was definitely in all the soldiers who fought in this war. The men who fought in the war not only risked their country but also risked their lives. They risked never seeing their families again and for some that was the case. Ayton however was one of the few who returned home though not on his own accord. He was forced to return to Australia due to a head injury he gained while fighting. It is unclear whether he survived this or not. There was not a lot of information on what Ayton did during the war but I believe he struggled with the lot of them. He was fairly young when he embarked but I believe he was not the only one. I also wonder what his mother and other family members must have been thinking when he went to war. it must have been a great struggle for them not knowing what was going on and whether or not he was alive or not. This was a struggle for all families who had men from their family fighting in the war. But I think the struggle Ayton himself must have been great as well. He must have been pretty scared at times yet he felt pride in knowing he was doing his country a favour.
I also believe that he showed similar mateship and brother hood to those he fought alongside. It could have been a struggle for his friends to see him returned because of his injury and not knowing whether or not he survived the trip back could have been hard on them. He suffered a mild gunshot wound to the head but survived long enough to return home. It is unclear on what he did after his return if he survived long after. I like to think that he returned safely to his mother’s arms and though may have suffered mild brain damage, would have continued with his life until the very end. I would think that if he survived after his return he would have married and passed down his family name to his children (if he had any) and would have been respected and thanked for his services in the war.
All in all Jack Ayton was a brave soldier and would have fought to the very end if he had the chance. I believe he had the true Australian spirit and would have done anything to defend his country even if it meant losing his own life.
Other sites used (bibliography):
Australian Government n.d., National Archives of Australia, Australia, accessed 9 May 2017, <https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3043018&isAv=N>.
Australian war memorial n.d., First World War Embarkation Rolls:, Australia, accessed 9 May 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1994766/>.
Wikipedia free encyclopedia n.d., Private (rank), Australia, accessed 9 May 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_(rank)
Click images to start slideshow.