Thomas JARO #4083

Indigenous Australian, Thomas JARO, 4th Australian Pioneer Battalion

Thomas JARO, a stockman was born in Eidsvold in 1890 to Kate Dow and Henry Jaro, he resided with his wife Ruby Law and 3 year old son Tommy, at Gayndah. Jaro who was also a well-known middle weight boxer, volunteered to serve with the first AIF in July 1917 and was assigned to the 4th Australian Pioneer Battalion.

He embarked from Sydney on board the troopship 'Medic' in August 1917, arriving in England 6 weeks later. He joined his battalion in France in March, and by April 1918, his unit was operating near Henencourt Wood in the Somme Valley, when the camp was subjected to heavy shelling. Thomas Jaro along with 28 other men was wounded that morning, he was hit in his left leg with shrapnel.

Jaro was evacuated to hospital in England, and after 12 weeks of treatment was discharged to his unit, but he did not return to see active service overseas. Jaro returned to Australia in December 1918.

Read more:

• Service record: JARO, Thomas
• Country Volunteers. The Brisbane Courier 7 July 1917, p7
• GAYNDAH. Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser 26 January 1916, p 2
• Embarkation roll: 4th Australian Pioneer Battalion
• Unit Diaries: 4th Australian Pioneer Battalion
• One of the soldiers featured in SLQ’s HistoryPin Collection
• Queensland’s Indigenous Servicemen [oral history]

The information in this blog post has been researched by State Library staff and volunteers, it is based on available information at this time. If you have more information that you would like to share or further research uncovers new findings, this post will be updated.