People - John Skelton Russell

Lance Sergeant - A.I.F. 2/22 Battalion

Born: 9 April 1918  Essendon, Victoria, Australia.  Died: 22 January 1942  Rabaul, New Britain.

Son of William Leslie and Ida Frances Russell; husband of Annie Wilma Russell, of Moonee Ponds, Victoria.

Lance Sergeant John Skelton Russell was born in Essendon, Victoria on 9th April 1918 and died on the 22nd January at Rabaul. He had been trained as an analytical chemist and was married for a very short time before he went with the 2/22 Bn to Trawool Camp for initial training. His death is part of the story of the persistent bombing of Praed Point where Australian forces had artillery and mortar units.

Jack along with his brother Bob were very close to their only other sibling, Nancy. They were closely spaced in age and were bound by the strongest of emotional bonds to each other and to their parents. Neither of these men had time to become parents. Jack's family donated a memorial window to the Aberfeldie Methodist Church in memory of the brothers and their friend Orm Copas.

Related Entries

• A.I.F. 2/22 Battalion, Australian Infantry
• Copas, Ormond Frederick Clarke ( - 1942)
• The Rabaul Memorial, Bita Paka Cemetery
• Russell, Robert William (1920 - 1942)

© Robert Ditterich 2006