In a tiny village north of Paris, an imposing white stone tower stands out in stark contrast to the rolling green hills that surround it.

Located on top of what was known on the Western Front as “Hill 104”, the Villers-Brettonneux Military Cemetery today contains the names of over 10,000 Australians who died defending France during the First World War.

One of these names is Sergeant John (Jack) P. Walker.

Jack was born on 16 May 1892 in Moorabbin.

He attended Melbourne Grammar, where he honed his sporting prowess, representing the school in both cricket and football.

Walker was an adept cricketer and captained the Melbourne Grammar First XI in 1908, before going on to win the 1912-1913 batting average whilst representing the East Melbourne Cricket Club.

The keen cricketer also showed ability with the oval ball, and in 1910 made his VFL debut for St Kilda in the Saints’ Round 18 win over Carlton at the Junction Oval.

Walker played a total of four games for the red, white and black in 1910-1911, before leaving football to study law and eventually becoming a law clerk in the city.

He continued his work in the city and lived in Moorabbin until enlisting as a Private with the 8th Battalion on 5 January 1915 at the age of just 22.

Walker was deployed in May 1915 and over the subsequent 14 months his service took him to Alexandria, Cairo, Giza, Marseille and the Somme.

Throughout the course of the war, the ex-St Kilda man rose to the rank of Sergeant and was awarded the 1914/1915 British Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

When the 8th Battalion was called up to join the fighting at Pozières in the infamous 1916 Battle of the Somme, it heralded the start of one of the deadliest single conflicts for Australian soldiers to date.

The Battle of Pozières took place at the small French village of the same name and the surrounding ridge, a place which has been described by renowned Australian historian Charles Bean as “more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth”.

The resulting British victory over the German Empire was incredibly costly, with the Allies’ unrelenting assault leading to the deaths of over 23,000 Anzac soldiers.

On just the fifth day of fighting, Walker was killed whilst following ill-planned British orders. The Australians were called upon to press the German lines back in torrid conditions, and the ensuing bombardment of German shellfire took Walker’s life. He was just 23.

Like many of his fellow Anzacs who died alongside him that night, Walker’s final resting place is not known. He is commemorated at Villers-Brettonneux, the Australian War Memorial and RSEA Park in Moorabbin.

John P. Walker was a boy from Moorabbin. He was a footballer, a cricketer and a law clerk.

He found himself in a war he had no say in, taking orders from a country he’d never seen and ultimately sacrificing his life for the country he called home.

This Anzac Day, we remember Jack and the other 24 Saints who gave up their lives so that we may continue to live ours freely, and we pay our respects to the 286 ex-St Kilda footballers who served in the two world wars.

St Kilda Football Club Honour Roll

Paul Bell (d. Balikpapan, 1945)
Arthur Caldwell (d. Malta, 1918)
Harry Comte (d. Tarakan Island, 1945)
Claude Crowl (d. Gallipoli, 1914)
Adam de Ross (d. France, 1917)
Bill Downie (d. Japan, 1943)
Jim Farnan (d. Pozières, 1916)
Bob Flegg (d. Feuersbrunn, 1944)
Horace Griffin (d. France, 1916)
Lou Holmes (d. Gallipoli, 1915)
Bill Hudson (d. New Guinea, 1945)
Stuart King (d. Coral Sea, 1943)
Otto Lowenstern (d. France, 1917)
Bill Madden (d. Bullecourt, 1917)
Paddy McGuinness (d. Le Treport, 1918)
Wallace Mills (d. Babinda, 1943)
Hector Mitchell (d. Singapore, 1917)
Bert O’Connell (d. Broodseinde Ridge, 1917)
Harold Parker (d. Lille, 1917)
Hugh Plowman (d. Fleurbaix, 1917)
Beres Reilly (d. Crete, 1943)
Albert Roberts (d. New Guinea, 1942)
Ralph Robertson (d. Aboukir, 1917)
John T. Shelton (d. Tobruk, 1941)
John P. Walker (d. Pozières, 1916)