Almanac Poetry: Captain Albert Jacka, VC, MC and Bar
Jacka with adopted daughter, Betty, late 1920s, St Kilda, Melbourne. (Image: http://www.gallipolilegend.com/albertjacka.html)
Late-in-Life Photo of Captain Albert Jacka (1893-1932), VC, MC and Bar
“He [Jacka] deserved the Victoria Cross as thoroughly at Pozieres, Bullecourt and at Ypres as at Gallipoli … The whole AIF came to look on him as a rock of strength that never failed.” – Captain Ted Rule, Jacka’s Mob.
Monochrome day,
’28 or ’9.
What season? Winter?
Hard to say.
Jacka sits on a bench
overlooking blustery grey
St Kilda Beach,
his little daughter beside him.
He has aged beyond his years
— wartime illnesses,
gunshot and shrapnel wounds,
mustard gas …
Offshore, the waves,
bleak and black.
Acknowledgement: first published in Orpheus in the Undershirt, Ginninderra Press, 2018.
To read more from Kevin Densley click HERE.
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His fifth book-length poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws ... I'm Feeling Too Indolent, was published in late 2023 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, which was published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
Nice touch Kevin. I have read many books, stories and accounts of Jacka’s exploits and while the likes of Monash have been acknowledged, men such as Jacka and “Mad Harry” Murray are all but forgotten. It took 100 years for a statue of Mad Harry to be erected in Evandale, Tas.and it still amazes me that there is not a statue of Jacka on the boulevard that carries his name or outside the St Kilda town hall.
Thanks, KND. Yes, it is a bit surprising that there’s not a Jacka statue.
Over the years, though, a number of memorial things connected to Jacka have accumulated, such as: Jacka’s Boulevard in St Kilda, which you’ve mentioned (where he was mayor, as you’d know); the suburb of Jacka in Canberra; a prominent plaque in the RSL in Acland Street where I think there may be “an Albert Jacka Room”, and an annual memorial service at his grave in St Kilda Cemetery organised by the council.
Interesting that you bring up (Lieutenant-Colonel) “Mad Harry” Murray too, the most decorated infantry soldier of the British Empire during WW1; of course, he was nicknamed, “Mad Harry” – in a typically understated Australian way – because of his absolute coolness under the enormous pressure of battle.
Correction to above, third last line: ” … of course, he was nicknamed, “Mad Harry” – in a typically Australian way – because of his absolute coolness under the enormous pressure of battle.” (The word “understated” should have been omitted in my response.)
Intriguing character Jacka. Hard to believe that in this photo he was still a young man. Extraordinary life.
Thanks for your comments, Dips. Yes, such an extraordinary life. Interestingly, as the first VC of WW1, he received five hundred pounds and a gold watch from John Wren, who had promised these things to Australia’s first VC winner of the war – Jacka collected used these funds after he returned home in 1919 and used them to set up a business which imported electrical goods – it did well until the depression hit.
Aged beyond his years says it all. I hope there was more happiness in his heart that day than on his face. He looks so weary.
Thanks for your response, Nicole – it’s true to say that Jacka survived the war, but didn’t really survive the peace, though he did live to help many depression unemployed during his time as Mayor of St Kilda.
Thanks KD Albert Jacka grew up in Wedderburn and the war memorial there is Jacka Park which like most country towns memorials is beautifully maintained.
Thanks, Hayden. Yes, I’ve known about Jacka Park in Wedderburn for some years – in an earlier comment, I mentioned just a few of the things dedicated to Jacka. Another Jacka memorial, built in recent years, is in Winchelsea, Victoria, as Jacka was actually born in Layard, a small dairying locality nearby. ( I live about five minutes drive from this locality.) The memorial in Winchelsea is also dedicated to ‘Jacka’s mob’ (the 14th Battalion) and men and women in the district who served in WW1.
Hard as a cats head and just as humble Kev. I heard an ABC interview yesterday with Peter Fitzsimmons who has brought a book out on Jacka just in time for Xmas. His bravery defies belief.
Thanks for your comments, Willo.
Your certainly right about Jacka’s bravery, hardness and humility – I’ve read pretty much everything I could lay hands on about him over the years.
Upon Bert’s return to Melbourne after the war, he was involved in a major motorcade through its central area and crowds crushed around him as if he was a member of the Beatles! In a photograph of this event I saw some years back, it’s clear that this kind of attention and adulation made him uncomfortable.
Typo above – 2nd par should commence: ‘You’re certainly right…’