Geboortejaar: 1893

Geboorteplaats: Dangar Village, Narrabri, New South Wales, Australië

Beroep: Arbeider

Land: Australië

Strijdmacht: Australian Imperial Force

Rang: Lance Serjeant

Service nummer: 16

Dienstneming datum: 13/01/1916

Dienstneming plaats: Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australië

Eenheden:  —  Australian Infantry, 34th Bn.  (Laatst gekende eenheid)

Datum van overlijden: 12/10/1917

Plaats van overlijden: Seine, Zonnebeke, België

Doodsoorzaak: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Leeftijd: 24

British War Medal Medaille

Victory Medal Medaille

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.

34th Australian Infantry Battalion, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 23/51/12). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Gebruikte bronnen

Beaver E. and Meldrum J.W.G, A Short History of the 34th Battalion, AIF, (Carlton, Illawarra Press, 1957), p 22-25. Gebruikte bronnen

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, BLOOMFIELD J). https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx Gebruikte bronnen

Foto https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/293324 Gebruikte bronnen

McCarthy Chris, Passchendaele : The Day-by-Day account, (London, Uniform, 2018), p 128-131. Gebruikte bronnen

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

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/461966

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=d71f4325-4427-4277-b014-4f45130319a0

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7362375

The AIF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=25400