Place | Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Albert Bapaume Area, Pozieres Area, Pozieres |
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Accession Number | AWM2016.2.333 |
Collection type | Film |
Object type | Last Post film |
Physical description | 16:9 |
Maker |
Australian War Memorial |
Place made | Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell |
Date made | 28 November 2016 |
Access | Open |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial![]() |
Copying Provisions | Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction. |
The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1055) Corporal John Davitt Jageurs, 24th Battalion, First World War.
The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Charis May, the story for this day was on (1055) Corporal John Davitt Jageurs, 24th Battalion, First World War.
Film order form1055 Corporal John Davitt Jageurs, 24th Battalion
KIA 29 July 1916
No photograph in collection
Story delivered 28 November 2016
Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal John Davitt Jageurs.
John Jageurs was born in 1895 to Morgan and Bridget Jageurs of Carlton, Victoria. His father had been born in Ireland but came to Australia as a child, and ran the family business making gravestones and monuments.
The Jageurs were a prominent and devout Catholic family in Melbourne. Morgan was described as a “doughty champion of Ireland”, a vocal advocate of Home Rule, and a keen promoter of all things Irish. John Jageurs attended the Christian Brothers’ School in North Melbourne, and shared his father’s deep interest in Ireland. He was a founding member of the Young Men’s Society for the Study of Irish Art and Music, and was the first secretary of the Young Ireland Society.
Following his education, John Jageurs joined the state service and became an officer of the Immigration Branch of the Lands Department.
Morgan Jageurs objected to his underage son going to war, and it wasn’t until John resorted to writing “a lengthy and powerfully-written plea from the Australian national standpoint” that his father was finally swayed. With his father’s permission, the 19-year-old enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in March 1915. He was posted to the 24th Battalion and began training.
In early May a large gathering of friends held a function to say goodbye to the young Private Jageurs. Following a number of patriotic speeches and toasts from those present, John responded by saying that he was “fully aware of the great effort required of him, and he promised that he
would do his best to make the Turkey trot”. A few days later Jaguers left Melbourne on board the troopship Euripides.
Jageurs served on Gallipoli, and it was reported in the newspapers that he was wounded by a shell blast at Lone Pine. In September 1915 he was evacuated to hospital in Malta with shell shock. He took best advantage of his recovery to see as much of Malta as he could, later calling the Cathedral of Peter and Paul was “the most beautiful sight I ever looked upon”.
Jageurs was in Malta for a short time before being sent to England. Although he was offered the chance to remain there with a clerical job, he opted to return to active service. He re- joined the 24th Battalion in Egypt before sailing to France to fight on the Western Front.
On 28 July 1916 the 24th Battalion was in the front line at Pozières. Jageurs, who had been promoted to corporal, was in an advanced position with his section commander. The two were killed instantly when a German shell exploded nearby.
The Catholic chaplain of Jageurs’ brigade wrote that “he was a very good soldier, attentive to his work, conscientious in discharge of his duty, and never gave any trouble to his superior officers.” Captain Frawley of the 24th Battalion later wrote:
throughout our battalion he was loved and admired as a thorough gentleman and an excellent soldier, and from our colonel downwards his loss is mourned. I knew him not only as an excellent soldier, but also as a fervent, devout and exemplary Catholic.
Today Corporal John Jageurs is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial to the missing at Villers-Bretonneux. He was 21 years old.
His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.
This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Corporal John Davitt Jageurs, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.
Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section
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Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1055) Corporal John Davitt Jageurs, 24th Battalion, First World War. (video)