Wallace Hardie Jones

   Cause of his death was Acute Respiratory failure, Chronic respiratory fauilure.

   Another name for Wallace was Wallace Hardy Jones.

  General Notes:

Wallace's brother, George aged 16, was the informant on his Birth Certificate. He was probably named after John Wallace for whom his grandfather George Jones worked.

Wallace enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on the 29th April, 1915 at Liverpool, NSW. He was 19 years and 5 months old, and a Wool Classer. His name was recorded as Wallace Hardy Jones. He listed his mother as next of kin, his father having passed away the previous year.

At the time of his enlistment Wallace was 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed 130 lbs, with a chest measurement of 31-34 inches. His complexion was dark, eyes and Hair, Brown. His religion was Methodist. Wallace was assigned to "B" Company of the 20th Battallion, 5th Brigade of the Australian Imperial Force. His Service Number was 713. He embarked on the 26th June 1915, there is no record of the vessel.

By 20th September 1915, Wallace was aboard the Hospital Ship Gloucester Castle suffering from Influenza. It must have been a serious bout as he was moved to several other Hospital Ships and Australian Stationary Hospitals (ASH) in Egypt and he was not discharged until the 8th November, 1915. On the 15th November he "embarked for O'Seas" on the H.M.T. ????? [indescipherable]. On the 21st November he returned to his unit which by now was on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and he apparently served there until he left in January. He disembarked at Alexandria on the 9th January 1916 "ex Mudros", boarded the H.M.T. Ingoma on the 18th March 1916, disembarking in Marseille, France on the 25th March, 1916.

On the 6th May 1916 Wallace was admitted to the 14. G. Hosp. suffering Gunshot wounds that he had received in Wimeraux, France on the 5th May. Wimeraux is a small seaside town halfway between Calais and Boulogne. On the 15th May he boarded the Hospital Ship Cambria in Boulogne bound for England and was admitted to the 3 L.G.H. He was then admitted to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital on the 13th June 1916 and then Woodcote Park in England on the 4th July 1916. By the 9th August he was well enough to go on a Furlough.

On the 29th August 1916 he "marched in and was placed in class" at Perham Down Army Base. "Perham Down (nicknamed Perishing Down) between Tidworth & Ludgershall was part of the Tedworth Estate purchased by the Army in 1897 & the following year a camping ground was established. It was one of the more popular camps due to its close proximity to Ludgershall station.....Of four Australian command depots in the UK dealing with soldiers who had been discharged from Hospital and needed training before being sent to France, Number 1 was Perham Down." Source: Wiltshire and The Great War - Training The Empire Soldiers by TS Crawford, pub 1999, by DPF publishing, 1 Mapledurham View, Reading, Berks RG31 6LF. ISBN 0-9535100-0-x

On the 31st August he was officially transferred to the 5th Training Battallion at Perham Down from the No. 1 Command Depot. On the 2nd October 1916 he was "Taken on Strength" and on the 27th October he marched out to Wareham, Dorset, the location of a significant army base. Wallace spent some time at Wareham and was promoted to Private.
On the 6th August 1917 he headed off to France from Folkeston, disembarking 2 days later. On the 24th August he marched out to join his unit. By the 20th September Wallace had been wounded in action once again suffering a Gun Shot wound to the head, which was described as "slight". After spending some time in Hospitals he was returned to England from Le Treport on 6th October 1917 and admitted to the 2nd Southern General Hospital. Between the 10th October and the 29th October he was allowed to take a furlough in England. On the 30th October he was back in classes at the No. 3 Command Depot at Hurdcott Camp. "Hurdcott Camp was established in 1915 for various Regiments, some Rifle brigades from London, and several from the north of England such as the East Lancashire (The Accrington Pals), 1st Hull and several from Yorkshire. There was a small hospital for them but in August 1916, when the Australian forces took over the camp the hospital was enlarged.

No 3 Command Depot of the Australian Imperial Forces made their HQ in the Farm House and the camp and facilities were greatly expanded to accommodate the thousands of Australian wounded from the battlefields in France.

It was staffed by Australian medical services and had at least 172 beds (a report quoted in the 'Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services' edited by A.C. Butler: 'In the first six months of 1918 the Group Clearing Hospital at Hurdcott admitted 3,368 patients, discharged 2,118 to their units and sent 1,010 to other military hospitals. The average number of patients in hospital being 172 )'

A Group Clearing Hospital (sometimes called Convalescent Hospital) was classified for being sent patients who would take at least 6 months to be fit to return to active service. Source: http://www.fovanthistory.org/hospital.html

From The Alpine Observer 12th January 1917

"About Our Soldiers

.. The many friends of Private William Jones, formerly of Harrietville, will be pleased to hear that he was promoted to the position of first lieutenant on the field in France recently, after a very strenuous time with "Fritz" on the Somme front. His brother, Private Wallace H. Jones is in England recovering from wounds recieved at Pozieres. He is making good progress towards recovery..."

On the 21st November 1917, Wallace was transferred to the Overseas Training Brigade at Longbridge Deverill in Wiltshire. By the 30 May 1918 he was heading back to France via Folkestone and on the 3rd June he rejoined his Unit, the 20th Battallion. On the 15 January 1919, the War now officially over, he finally left France ex Havre and eventually left England for Australia on the Warwickshire on the 5th April 1919, arriving home at last on the 31st May 1919. He had been away from home almost 4 years.

Private Wallace Hardie Jones was awarded the 1914/1915 Star (No. 19267), the British War Medal (No. 15615) and the Victory Medal (No. 15421).

In 1930, 1933, 1936, 1943, 1949 and 1954 he was living at 7 The Esplanade, South Hurstville in NSW with his wife, Florence. His name was spelled Wallace Hardy Jones in the Electoral Roll, occupation wool classer.

In 1968 Wallace, then living at 7 The Esplanade, South Hurstville in NSW, wrote to the Army applying for the Gallipoli Medal in which he states he was evacuated (presumably from Gallipoli) on either the Osmanieh or Prince Abas. A notation on the letter reads "shp raised 15/5/60" and there is a tick. The letter was received on 13 May 1968.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He worked as a Wool Classer.

• He resided at the time of his death on 6 Aug 1973 in 7 The Esplanade, South Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia.

Wallace married Florence Evelyn Pike, daughter of Edward Pike and Lucy J Caves, on 9 Jul 1925 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. (Florence Evelyn Pike was born on 21 Nov 1903 in St Peters, New South Wales, Australia, died on 7 Apr 1958 in Mental Hospital, Gladesville, , New South Wales, Australia and was buried on 9 Apr 1958 in Woronora Crematoria, Woronora, New South Wales, Australia.). The cause of her death was Hypostatic pneumonia,3 days / Uraemia, 4 days / Hypersensitive Heart Disease ? years.