The Soldier's Details

‘Black Jack’ as he was often known as, enlisted AIF Oct 1940 and later joined 2/4th’s ‘A’ Coy 6 Platoon under CO Lt John Morrison.  He was promoted to Corporal 11 Feb 1942.

During fighting in Singapore Jack was wounded at Buona Vista on the last day of fighting – 15 February 1942.  He received GSW to his lower left leg and left shoulder admitted to 2/9th Field Ambulance then transferred to AGH at St Patrick’s School on 17 Feb and then to AGH Roberts Barracks at Changi.   He was discharged to his unit 5 May 1942.

Following Allied Surrender at Singapore Jack was sent to Selarang Camp Changi.  He was then sent out on work parties to Johore Bahru and Adam Park.

He was entrained from Singapore to Thailand to work on the Burma-Thai Railway with ‘F’ Force in 1943.   This Force endured a high death rate and horrific conditions and tropical illnesses.  They arrived in the monsoon season and their camp was muddy and continually wet with tropical rains.

Please read about ‘F’ Force Thailand

Below:  48 men of 2/4th who left Singapore.  List compiled by Harold Cowie.

Jack was a cook at Songkurai Camp – a life-saving job. It really did save his life protecting him from slave labouring on the Burma-Thai Railway.

Then it was onto Shimo Songkurai, Cami Songkurai, Konkoita before being sent back to Kanchanaburi at the end of 1943.  All the POWs in Burma were sent south to one of several large camps or hospitals.  POWs were entrained to Singapore returning to Changi.

Jack was sent on a work party in Singapore in 1945  –X8 Party.  He also sought a job as a cook at Changi.He was recovered from Changi at the end of the war.Black Jack was an unforgettable big man with a big character!

Below:  Jack Ewen and Annie Alderton Waugh married in 1937

 

 

Above: Jack’s children Left: Dallas and Rt:  Max.

Jack Ewen, Ettie & Doug Hampton

 

Jack passed away 24 March 2001 aged 87 years.  Annie died in 1974. They are buried at
Collie Cemetery.

 

Jack was born 1913 Mt Hawthorn to parents David Alexander Ewen and Amelia Maud Brown.  He was the only child from this marriage.

His father David Alexander Ewen was born 20 Feb 1878 at Encounter Bay SA to parents Alexander Ewen and Mary Ann Parsons.   Alexander operated a Whaling Station at Encounter Bay. They had a large family of 14 children – 7 girls and 7 boys.  David Alexander was the fifth of Seven boys.

 

Above:  Five young men from Victor Harbour, South Australia to serve on HMCS ‘Protector’ 9 July 1900. James Ticklie, David Alexander Ewen, George Frederick Jeffery, William Henry Ticklie and Leonard Bolger. (From Advertiser – Monday 9th July)

From ‘South Australian Register’ Monday 6 August 1900 -Leonard Bolger was not part of Protector’s crew when it sailed from Adelaide to the Boxer Rebellion, China.

Below:  HMCS Protector 1900

South Australia’s own warship, the Protector, the colonies’ largest, goes to China during 1900 Boxer Rebellion.  You may wish to read further about this flat-bottomed war ship.

The Boxer Rebellion was over before Protector arrived.

South Australia’s HMCS Protector, 188 feet long, was armed with weapons ranging from large-calibre artillery to small arms including cutlasses, boarding pikes, Martini-Henry rifles, and revolvers.

South Australia had the largest well-armed light cruiser warship of all Australian colonies in 1884, with the arrival from Britain of its HMCS (Her Majesty’s Colonial Ship) Protector.

The Protector was built for SA  government for £65,000, by British firm of Sir William Armstrong & Co. of Newcastle-on-Tyne. It was a reaction to the colonies’ long-standing fear of a threat from Russia.

Please read further

Please read about the Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion took place from 1899 to 1901.

The crew of SA’s  gunboat Protector for the Boxer Rebellion consisted of approx. 106 sailors. In addition to the Protector’s crew, other Australian colonial forces included a naval brigade from Victoria and New South Wales with a total of 462 men.  The total number of sailors in the Australian contingent was approximately 568.

The Boxers attacked foreigners, missionaries, diplomats and Chinese Christians as well as Foreign property -railroads, churches, etc.

Further reading about the Boxer Rebellion from
AWM

Think China – A pictorial study of the The Boxer Rebellion:  A wound in china’s modern history

Below:  1973 Five generations of Ewen family meet in 1973 to honour Alexander Ewen who was manager of a Whaling Station at Encounter Bay.

The Ewen Reserve was named after Alexander Ewen in 1973.