Year of birth: 1893

Place of birth: Dangar Village, Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia

Profession: Labourer

Country: Australia

Force: Australian Imperial Force

Rank: Lance Serjeant

Service number: 16

Enlistment date: 13/01/1916

Enlistment place: Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia

Units:  —  Australian Infantry, 34th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 12/10/1917

Place of death: Seine, Zonnebeke, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 24

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

Lance Sergeant John (Jake) Bloomfield was part of the 34th Battalion Australian Infantry, 9th Australian Brigade, 3rd Australian Division. His battalion took part in the First Battle of Passchendaele on 12 October 1917. The 3rd Australian Division attacked at 5.25 a.m. The 34th Battalion Australian Infantry advanced but heavy shelling on the jump-off line brought confusion. The first and second objective were reached but the attack did not have enough force to consolidate the gains. As a result they were forced to retire almost back to their start line after 3 p.m. Lance Sergeant John Bloomfield’s body was found between Seine house and Tyne cot. (D16.d.7.8.), behind the jump-off line. Most witnesses in the Red Cross file report him being struck by a shell, killing him and other men around him. Most say he and the others were buried not far from a structure (pillbox or concrete dugout) and the grave marked with a rifle. His first grave was located in the Flandern I Stellung, a German bunker line. There is confusion about the date and time of his death, but one witness named a Private called Alexander Michael (service number 832) to be one of the men killed by the same shell. This man was reported to have been killed on the 13th of October 1917. This, together with other witness accounts, make it most likely that Lance Sergeant Jack Bloomfield was killed on the night between the 12th and the 13th, while consolidating the new frontline after the attack.

[s .n.], Short History of the 34th Battalion AIF, 1957, 22-25. Sources used

AIF Project https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=25400 Sources used

Chris McCarthy, Passchendaele : The Day-by-Day account, 2018, 128-131. Sources used

CWGC https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/461966/bloomfield,-/ Sources used

Photograph https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/293324 Sources used

Red Cross Wounded and Missing File and Embarkation Roll https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search?query=Bloomfield+16 Sources used

Service Record https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3093386&isAv=N Sources used

The Long Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/ Sources used

War Diary 34th Bn. Australian Infantry https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1339199 Sources used