Victoria Cross recipient Albert Jacka was just as much a hero in peace time

AFTER getting Australia’s first Victoria Cross in World War I, Albert Jacka could have been forgiven for drifting off into anonymity — but he did just the opposite.

Albert Jacka: hero in war and peace

AFTER playing a pivotal role for the Anzacs in World War I, Victoria Cross recipient Captain Albert Jacka could have been forgiven for drifting off into anonymity on a secluded bay beach.

Instead the country Victorian, who arrived in Melbourne in 1919 amid much fanfare after being declared a national hero, decided to use his name to drive greater social change in the region, and in particular in St Kilda.

After the war Australia’s most revered frontline soldier began selling imported electrical goods in inner Melbourne.

However, as with most businesses during the Great Depression, Capt Jacka fell upon hard times.

Historian Michael Lawriwsky, who has written two books on Capt Jacka, said after serving one year in council, the unemployed war hero was “saved” by St Kilda Council, who made him mayor in 1929.

Lance Corporal Albert Jacka. Picture: Australian War Memorial.

The “Lemonade Mayor”, nicknamed because of his abstinence, shifted his steely gaze toward the ills riddling his locality of St Kilda.

“He put a lot of effort into helping the unemployed and the homeless,” said Capt Jacka’s great-great nephew, Paul Jacka.

He said Capt Jacka’s expertise and leadership qualities on the battlefield had a magnetic effect while he was a civilian.

“People just continued towards him; people just followed him,” Mr Jacka said.

At Gallipoli on May 19, 1915, acting Lance Corporal Jacka, 22, single-handedly recaptured a trench occupied by 12 Turks, shooting five and bayoneting two.

The actions saw him awarded Australia’s first Victoria Cross of the war and he was idolised across the country.

During the Battle of the Somme in August 1916, the now-Capt Jacka led a charge of eight men against a larger force of Germans.

His deeds in the ensuing Battle of Pozieres Ridge were described by Official Australian Historian Dr Charles Bean as “the most dramatic and effective act of individual audacity in the history of the AIF”.

During his time as mayor Capt Jacka lobbied the government to provide local infrastructure projects for dole workers to complete.

Albert Jacka with his daughter Betty, after the war.

The mayoral car was used by the unemployed and Capt Jacka organised a huge drive for shoes and clothes.

The St Kilda Baths was the most significant development Capt Jacka oversaw during his two-year term as mayor of St Kilda, before ill health took its toll.

Battling a chronic kidney disease, he remained on the council and his last representative act was chairing a committee in December 1931 that planned a festival on St Kilda’s foreshore to raise money for a Christmas luncheon for the unemployed and their families.

Capt Jacka died in January 1932 of nephritis, aged just 39.

He was one of three brothers to die from the disease.

Capt Jacka was laid to rest at St Kilda cemetery, metres from his old Murchison St home.

Paul Jacka remembered his heroic ancestor as selfless and committed to his people — to the point where he believes it may have cost Capt Jacka his marriage.

“He and his wife separated before he died … maybe it’s because he was so devoted,” he said.

Mr Lawriwsky said Capt Jacka personified an era of Australian volunteer and community spirit.

“These were really times when neighbours looked after neighbours,” he said. “He embodies a lot of values which should be cherished today.”