The handsome man in the photo above is that of Cyril Jackson, the second son of George and Martha Jackson of Picton. In his days in Picton Cyril had been a valued member of the local cricket club and a member of the Holy Trinity church choir.
At the outbreak of war Cyril was employed by the New Zealand Railways as a clerk at Waihi station in Coromandel. He enlisted on 20 October 1915 at Waihi and embarked with the 10th reinforcements attached to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 4 March 1916.
Cyril was promoted to Company Sergeant Major on 11 July 1916 at Sling Camp, England. His posting to the Western Front was delayed as he contracted Mumps early in March 1917 and was admitted to hospital in Glasgow for treatment. By the begining of April he had recovered and was marched back into Sling camp and on to Codford camp where he was transferred to the 3rd Battalion, Auckland Infantry Regiment.
He arrived in France in May 1917. However his tour of duty on the front was short. Cyril was wounded in action at Passchendaele most likely on 4 October 1917 at the Battle of Broodseinde and died of his wounds the next day. He was buried at the Brandhoek New Military Cemetery No 3, Vlamertinge, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
The news of Cyril's death back in New Zealand added to the grief that his family were already suffering, this due to the death of Cyril's father in June of the same year.
Cyril is also remembered on the Waihi War Memorial Gate (pictured below).
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