Alfred John Jones was born in the Tasmanian town of Zeehan to an ordinary family, and like many ordinary young men of his era, when war broke out he rallied to the call.

Alfred enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 29 Oct 1915. Despite his boyish looks, he was 21 on enlistment – in fact he’d only just turned 21 two weeks earlier.

Alfred became a member of the 4^th Australian Infantry Division, 52^nd Battalion. Before he would serve a full year or reach his 22nd birthday, Alfred’s life would end on the battlefields of France…

The 4th Division then went in, pressing its attack north towards Mouquet Farm and holding off German attempts to retake Pozières. Each of the three Australian divisions, though severely reduced, served a second tour on this notorious battleground.

The whole area was flayed and pounded into a veritable sea of shell-craters …

Charles Bean, Australian official First World War historian

It must have been terrifying. The number of Australian casualties on the battle fields of France was extreme and the gains hardly seemed worth the cost.

The massive artillery bombardment from the Germans at Pozières inflicted a huge number of casualties among the Australians. Historian Peter Burness stated that ‘for several weeks Pozières became the focus of the Somme fighting and the worst place to be on earth’.

Of the 23,000 Australian casualties, 6,800 men were killed or died of wounds.

By the time the offensive was abandoned in November, it had resulted in around 500,000 German, 420,000 British and dominion, and 200,000 French casualties. The allied forces had advanced no more than 12 kilometres.

Australian War Memorial

Alfred was reported missing in action on 4 September 1916. A Court of Enquiry in 1917 determined that Alfred was killed in action and was buried just north of Pozieres, 3¼ miles north east of the commune of Albert in the north of France.

There were several conflicting accounts given to the Court of Enquiry about what happened to Alfred. The most consistent information is that he was killed at Mouquet Farm:

‘Private Jones was killed while being carried on my back in the charge at Mouquet Farm. I was wounded so did not see him buried’ ‒

Private McCrostie

‘He was killed at Mouquet Farm on Sept 3^rd while going up a sap to the firing line. Private Harry Brown saw him killed and told me about it. Jones was a little chap with a fair complexion. He came from Tasmania. I knew him quite well. He and Pte Nash were killed together.’ ‒

Private O’Neal

‘I know Jones and saw him being killed by a shell during the charge on Sept 4^th when we were attacking Mouquet Farm. This was in No Man’s Land. The attack was successful.’ ‒

Private Almond

‘Informant says he knew Jones well. They both came from Tasmania. On the morning of the attack on Mouquet Farm he saw Jones’ dead body lying in Tom’s Cut. Jones’ Co. had attacked the previous night and informant’s Co. attacked over the same ground early the next morning.’ ‒

Private Hassett

‘A.J. Jones was killed by a shell in our lines at night time on about Sept. 4^th 1916 at Pozieres. I saw him killed; he was killed instantaneously. There was a heavy bombardment on at the time. I know nothing about his burial.’ ‒

H.G. Brown

Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files, Australian War Memorial

Alfred was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service, and his parents received the memorial plaque and scroll in honour of his sacrifice.

LEST WE FORGET