On 7 July 1918  a group photograph was taken of the10th Infantry Brigade Signal Section outside the Chateau at Querrieu. One of the men was my husband’s great uncle John Percival Young (1886-1918), known as Jack. It is the only photograph we have of him.

Group portrait of the Signal Section of the 10th Infantry Brigade, outside the Chateau at Querrieu, 7 July 1918. Pte J. Young is in the back row eighth from the left (fourth from the right). Australian War Memorial image ID E03830.

Querrieu, where in July 1918 General Monash had his headquarters, is in the area of the Somme about 11 kilometers north-east of Amiens.

The War Diary of the 10th Infantry Brigade records the visit of the photographer.

Australian War Memorial: War diaries/AWM4/Class 23/Sub class 10/AWM4 23/10/21 – July 1918

On 25 August, just over a month later, Jack Young was gassed. The war diary of the 3rd Australian Signals Division Company mentions an unnamed O. R. (other rank) being gassed. This could have been Jack. The 10th Infantry Brigade, to which Jack Young was attached, was involved in an attack on the village of Bray, about 32 kilometers east-north-east of Amiens.

Two days before the war ended, on 9 November 1918, Jack Young, whose lungs were damaged by the gas, died of pneumonia.

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