Anzac Day Special! Some family ANZACs

Arthur Edwin Jones (1893 - 1961)

b. 07 Apr 1893 at Westbury, Tasmania, Australia
m. Florence Vera Ratcliffe
d. 24 Oct 1961 at Heidelberg, Melbourne, Australia

Arthur Jones - my grandfather - was a crew member on the HMAS Sydney.  During the early stages of World War I, Sydney was involved in supporting the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, and escorting the first ANZAC convoy. However, it is most famous for sinking  the German light cruiser SMS Emden off the Cocos Islands, in 1914.  It was the first victory of the recently formed Australian Navy - and a famous one - the Emden at the time was “arguably the most hunted ship in the world”, having wreaked havoc in the Indian Ocean, sinking or capturing thirty allied merchant vessels and warships before encountering the Sydney.  The Sydney had been on it's way to Anzac Cove when it encountered the Emden.  Arthur Jones continued working as a merchant seaman after the war, moving with Florence Ratcliffe and their young daughter Sheila to South Melbourne, where the family grew to include five children (including my mum, Valda Jones). 

Robert Ambrose Jones (1884 - )

b. 30 Sep 1884 at Westbury, Tasmania, Australia

m. 15 Apr 1914 Vera Maggie Purton at Penguin, Tasmania

d. unknown date

Robert Jones was my great uncle, and brother of Arthur (above) and William (below). Robert was a sporting lad in his youth, representing Westbury in cricket and also football (he captained the Westbury team in 1908, according to a news-clipping from the Hobart Mercury).  He joined the army during WWI (No. T7133), but was fit only to serve in the ‘Home Service Band’.  Later, however, he was declared unfit for all service - perhaps owing to him having ‘a deformed right foot below ankle’.  He married Vera Purton at the start of the war, and had 2 sons - one of them being the swashbuckling Lloyd Jones.

William Thomas Joseph Jones (1890 - 1962)

b. 06 Jun 1890 at Westbury, Tasmania, Australia

m. 13 Jan 1914 Hannah Isabel Wilson  at Tasmania

d. 14 Jul 1962

Another great uncle, William Jones was a gunner (No. 33529) in the 8th Field Artillery Battery (3rd Brigade, Australian Imperial Forces) in WWI.  He was injured by a mustard gas attack at the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux (France), and shipped off with other casualties to England, where he spent nearly 6 months recovering at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Southampton.  Towards the end of this time, it is possible that William had a child with a young English munitions worker, Catherine Neill, who gave birth to George Bernard Neill, on 19 June, 1919.  The Australian Army received a letter from a ‘Miss C. Neill’, dated 18 August 1922, that says “...I have a little boy who is the child of W. T. Jones...”.  This letter is part of William's digitised army records that are available online.  William returned to Tasmania after the war, and he and Hannah raised six daughters.  I don’t know what became of George Neill, or his mother, or whether William Jones was truly the father of the child.

William (Bill) Trinder (1921 - ?)

b. 17 Sep 1921 at Launceston, Tasmania

Bill was my mum's cousin (one of Maud Ratcliffe's two sons).  He was a sailor in the RAN (Service Number: 23658).  An undated newspaper article among family documents shows a photo of the young lad, under the headline ‘Military News’.  The article says “William Trinder… is serving aboard the HMAS Perth. Seaman Trinder has been on the Perth for 18 months and in his last letter to his parents he said that he was well”.  It is a good thing that he didn’t remain fit and healthy – during the battle of the Sunda Strait on 1 March 1942, the Perth was torpedoed and sunk. 353 of the 681 aboard were killed; all but 4 of the 328 survivors were captured as prisoners of war. 106 later died in captivity – only 218 were repatriated after the war's end.  So what of ‘our Bill’?  Well, he was sick and unfit for duty before the Perth sailed, so was not onboard during the cruiser’s last days (mum remembers a cousin that didn’t sail when the Perth was sunk – this is him).  We have another family connection to this event – Sue Hannon’s grandfather was on the Perth when it was attacked, and sadly was one of the sailors that perished.

Reginald William Charles Trinder (1916 - ?)

b. 12 Mar 1916 at 111 Cimitiere St, Launceston

Another of the Trinder boys who fought in WWII, but his army records have yet to be digitized (Service Number: VX 22448).  Floss says “he fought in the desert” and indeed, the same newspaper article reporting on his brother William (see William Trinder) also reports “Reginald Trinder, who is with the AIF, is safe in Egypt”.  Of all my research, I can find not a single family member who died during active service in WWI or WWII – a remarkable thing, considering the great loss of life in these conflicts.  I know nothing more of what Reg did once the war was over.