{"id":2958,"date":"2009-03-11T16:33:57","date_gmt":"2009-03-11T05:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fffaif.wordpress.com\/?p=2958"},"modified":"2009-03-11T16:33:57","modified_gmt":"2009-03-11T05:33:57","slug":"birthday-greetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/?p=2958","title":{"rendered":"*Birthday Greetings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is the 110th<\/sup> Birthday of John ‘Jack’ Ross <\/span>– Australia’s last remaining First World War serviceman<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The Minister for Veterans Affairs, Mr Allan Griffin, office released the following statement:<\/span><\/p>\n

Happy 110th<\/sup> Birthday to AUSTRALIA’S LAST REMAINING WW1 SERVICEMAN Jack Ross <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Australian Government today officially paid tribute to Australia’s last remaining First World War serviceman and oldest Australian male, John Ross or ‘Jack’ who celebrates his 110th<\/sup> birthday today.\u00a0
\nPrime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd has also written to Mr Ross formally recognising his milestone.
\nBy reaching his 110th<\/sup> birthday, Mr Ross is now part of a select group known as supercentenarians.\u00a0
\nThe Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Mr Alan Griffin, and Minister for Ageing, Mrs Justine Elliot, wished Mr Ross a very happy day on this momentous occasion.
\n“I congratulate Mr Ross on reaching such a milestone.\u00a0 He volunteered to serve his country in two world wars and has seen Australia change a great deal over the last 110 years,” said Mr Griffin.
\nMrs Elliot said that we can learn so much from the wisdom, knowledge and experience of older Australians like Mr Ross.
\n“In his lifetime, Mr Ross has not only lived through two World Wars, but also witnessed the rise of the automobile and air travel, two Halley’s comets and the Federation of Australia,” Mrs Elliot said.
\nIn January 1918, at 18 years of age, Mr Ross enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.\u00a0 He trained at the Wireless Training School and was posted to the 1st Battalion at Broadmeadows Camp in Victoria.\u00a0 The war ended before Mr Ross could be posted overseas and he was discharged on Christmas Eve, 1918.
\n“Mr Ross is our last link to a generation of young men who served in the First World War.\u00a0 By the time Mr Ross enlisted, our young nation had already suffered massive casualties on the battlefields of Gallipoli, Palestine and the Western Front, yet Mr Ross volunteered to join them on the front line,” Mr Griffin said.
\nJack Ross served his country again in the Second World War as a member of the Volunteer Defence Corps.
\nIn his civilian life, Mr Ross worked for the Victorian Railways for more than 45 years and retired in 1964. He now lives in Bendigo, Victoria, and has a daughter, Peggy, a son, Robert, four grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
\nMember for Bendigo, Mr Steve Gibbons said: “To have Australia’s oldest digger in our community is an honour and a privilege.
\n“On behalf of the people of Bendigo, I wish Mr Ross a very happy birthday,” Mr Gibbons said.
\nMr Ross was awarded the 80th<\/sup> Anniversary Armistice Remembrance Medal<\/em>, Australia’s first commemorative honour, marking the 80th<\/sup> anniversary in 1998 of the end of the First World War. Mr Ross also received the Centenary Medal, <\/em>which <\/em>recognised living Australians who had contributed to Australian society in the 100 years since Federation.\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Hear about Jack Ross from an interview with his great niece by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Read the Nine News report by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

The Families and Friends of the First AIF<\/strong><\/em> thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and applauds Minister Snowdon and his British counterpart, Parliamentary Under<\/span>–Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans, Kevan Jones MP, for their joint decision to DNA test the remains at exhumation and use every reasonable method to attempt identification of each soldier.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is the 110th Birthday of John ‘Jack’ Ross – Australia’s last remaining First World War serviceman. The Minister for Veterans Affairs, Mr Allan Griffin, office released the following statement: Happy 110th Birthday to AUSTRALIA’S LAST REMAINING WW1 SERVICEMAN Jack … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}