JONES, David

When David Jones was born on 19 April 1889 in Eaglehawk, Victoria, his father, Henry, was 34 and his mother, Jane, was 34. He was their fourth son and one of eight children. Henry Jones died in 1897, aged 43, when David was nine. By the time David enlisted, his mother, Jane Jones, had moved to East Melbourne, where she lived at 57 Grey St., the address David gave on his enlistment form. David was one of three Jones brothers who served in World War 1, signing up on 27 July 1916. His younger brother, George, had joined up on 28 May, 1915, and his brother Robert on 18 September, 1915. David was 27 years old, 5' 9" tall, single, and gave his occupation as Labourer. He was placed in the 57th Battalion, 6th Reinforcements, training at Broadmeadows.  

By 1916, the Gallipoli campaign was over with the bulk of the AIF moving to France and then Belgium. David Jones embarked on HMAT Nestor on 2 October, 1916, arriving at Plymouth, England, on 16 November. He was almost immediately sick,  1 November, 1916, though his record doesn't specify with what illness. On recovery, he marched in to the 15th Training Battalion, probably at Hurdcott, then on 30 December, shipped over to France from Folkestone on the Princess Clementine. He was taken on strength with the 57th Battalion on 16 February, 1917.

The 57th battalion had been raised in 1916 and was to serve on the Westren Front until the end of the war. They trained in Egypt and arrived in France in June 1916. In July, the AIF fought at Fromelles, ' the worst 24 hours in Austraia's entire History' with 5,000 Australian casualties. The 57th had lost fewer soldiers than other battalions, because they were held back as reserves, but remained in the line for several days after other battalions were withdrawn.  After Fromelles, the 57th spent the next two and a half years in the trenches in France and Belgium. On 12 June, 1918, David Jones was wounded in action, probably at Corbie., with a gunshot wound in his left thigh. He was sent to the 16th General Hospital in France, then on 21 June, embarked for England. On 24 July, 1918, he was returned to Australia on the ship Bokara, arriving in Melbourne on 27 September and was discharged from further military service on 11 November.

David Jones married Dulcie Emily Harvey on 19 May 1923 in Edithvale, Victoria. They had three children during their marriage and lived at Maiden Gully, Victoria, where David Jones was  a farmer. He also served in World War 11,  joining the  Army Citizens Military Force from 1939-1945  He died on 25 August 1981 in Bendigo, Victoria, at the age of 92.