LUDBROOK, John Reginald

John Reginald Ludbrook was 18 years and three months old when he enlisted at the Melbourne Town Hall on 9 July, 1915. He was a clerk by profession, the son of John and Louisa Ludbrooke, of Green St., Ivanhoe, Victoria. His father was a  Surgical Instrument Maker and optician, with premises at 197 Lonsdale St. Melbourne.  It is interesting that he advertised himself on a regular basis in 'The Jewish Herald', as well as The Argus, although his son wrote 'Church of England' on his enlistment form. He also removed the final 'e' from his surname. John Ludbrooke was prob ably the son of George Ludbrooke of Milsom's point Sydney, also a Surgical INstrument Maker, boastign  '25 years with J. Weiss and Sons, Strand, London'.

John Reginald Ludbrooke had already had some military training, probably at school, in what he called the 'Compulsory Cadets 53B'. He was called up to Broadmeadows Camp on 19 July, 1915, for training, but medical examination showed that he had a large left-sided varicocele, which would have to be removed by surgery. He also had no teeth on his upper jaw. As such, he was declared unfit and discharged from service on 15 November, 1915.

It is difficult to follow him after the war. He married at Camberwell on March 18, 1929, to Jessie Florence. She was granted a divorce, reported in The Argus of 8 September, 1937: Jessie Florence Ludbrooke, aged 30 years, of Spencer St., St. Kilda, from John Reginald Ludbrooke, aged 38 years, of Lower Heidelberg Rd., Ivanhoe, Commercial Traveller, on the grounds of habitual drunkenness and habitual cruelty ... There is one child.

There are two interesting things about this notice,  the first being his age and date of birth. If he was 38 in 1937, he was born in 1899, not 1897 as he claimed on his enlistment form, and was probably only sixteen, at most seventeen, when he enlisted. Then there is his address, which would place him in his parents' home at 21 Lower Heidelberg Rd., Ivanhoe.  In the years after the war, John Ludbrooke's business became 'Ludbrooke and Son', and stayed that way after his death in the late 1930s. In 1956, the contents of the business went to auction: The Argus, 12 May, 1956. Furniture, Plant and Stock, J. Ludbrooke and Son, Artificial Limb and Surgical Appliances, 197 Lonsdale St., Melbourne. Auction 11 am Wednesday next Office Furniture, Showcases etc. DEFINITE SALE. G.Arnel and Co., Auctioneer, 155 Heidelberg Rd., Ivanhoe.