James Charles (Jim) Martin (1901–1915) From: http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/martin.asp Private James Charles (Jim) Martin is thought to be the youngest Australian to have died on active service. He was born in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn, on 3 January 1901 and, having just left school to work as a farmhand, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in April 1915 at the age of 14 years and 3 months. He told the recruiting officers that he was 18. He joined the 1st Reinforcements of the 21st Battalion and, after training at Broadmeadows and Seymour Camps in Victoria, left for Egypt on the troopship HMAT Berrima in June. In late August, he embarked for Gallipoli on the steamer HMT Southland, to have our share of the Turks, he wrote. When the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine off Lemnos Island, he spent four hours in the water before being rescued. Private Martin landed with his battalion on Gallipoli on 8 September. They were stationed in the trenchlines near Courtney's Post on the ridge above Monash Valley. He wrote to his family that the "Turks are still about 70 yards away from us" and asked them not to worry about him as "I am doing splendid over here". But on 25 October he was evacuated to the hospital ship Glenart Castle suffering from typhoid fever caught in the trenches. He died of heart failure that evening. He was buried at sea. His name is recorded on the Australian memorial at Lone Pine. Over twenty other Australians under the age of 18 died in the First World War. Portrait of Jim Martin Portrait of Jim Martin, thought to be the youngest soldier to die while on active service in the Australian Imperial Force.
