Media Centre
Albert Jacka 80th Anniversary Memorial
Published 3 January 2012
2 pm, Sunday January 15, 2012
St Kilda General Cemetery, Corner Dandenong Rd & Hotham St
Afternoon tea at 3pm, St Kilda Town Hall
The 80th anniversary of the death of Albert Jacka VC (10 January 1893 –17 January 1932), World War 1 hero and former Mayor of St Kilda, will be observed with a ceremony at St Kilda General Cemetery at 2pm, Sunday January 15.
Jacka was the first Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross in World War 1 and won it three weeks after the fateful landing at Anzac Cove. He later served on the Western Front where he was decorated twice for bravery but according to many historians, he should have won two further VCs.
This year, extended members of the Jacka family will be attending from around the country to mark this important anniversary.
The 2nd/10th Field Regiment is returning to provide the catafalque (funeral) party and the bugler. The party will march to Jacka’s grave, followed by the descendants of the 14th Battalion “Jacka’s Mob” Inc. After the service, all attendees are invited back to St Kilda Town Hall for afternoon tea and to view a display of memorabilia about Jacka.
According to the official St Kilda Council statement of the time, Jacka was “a helper of the helpless. Despite his own personal troubles, his kind heart was fully of feeling and sympathy for those unable to help themselves.”
Acting Mayor Cr Frank O’Connor said, “Jacka showed great compassion as a councillor from 1929-31, and as Mayor in 1930. During the Depression, Jacka was probably the only Mayor in Australia who was unemployed for most of his term. He fought, not always successfully, for the rights and dignity of the unemployed, despite suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Jacka’s battles to improve the lot of his constituents helped push him to a premature death on January 17, 1932, after he collapsed at a council meeting. A crowd of around 50,000 lined the streets for his funeral which was broadcast over 3UZ.
The 14th Battalion, known as “Jacka’s Mob”, held commemorations in St Kilda until the responsibility for organising these events was taken over by the former St Kilda Council in 1986. Then, in 1999 Pearcedale resident, Chris Waters, was inspired to organise a group called Descendents of Jacka’s Mob which now boasts 100 members. Since 2000, the group has marched together on Anzac Day.
More recently, in 2005 a new Canberra suburb was named in Jacka’s honour. Jacka also gives his name to the Boulevard that runs along the St Kilda foreshore.
A photo gallery from the 2012 Memorial Service is now online.
To order a copy of an image(s) please note the file name and contact the Mayor and Councillors' Office at City of Port Phillip. If you prefer phone ASSIST on (03) 9209 6777 and ask for the Mayor and Councillors' Office.
Note: All image file names in the Civic Awards image gallery start with _DSC
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MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Katie Elles, Media Adviser 9209 6163 0435 657 336 kelles@portphillip.vic.gov.au www.portphillip.vic.gov.au
