Danish immigrant Joergen Jensen’s courage under fire was the centre of many conversations in Adelaide after World War I LOUIS Winger would often recall stories of her stepfather, Joergen Jensen, to her daughter Kathleen. Kathleen Winger, of Largs Bay, says her mum’s stepfather was always getting asked about the event that would lead him to become one of eight South Australians to be awarded the Victoria Cross in World War I. “People talked to him endlessly about it,” Ms Winger says. “Strangers would want him to tell the story again and again. He was always being asked. “He was a modest man. He was very kind, even tempered and fair. “He did suffer very much from the war but he talked about the war with my mother a lot, even though she was a young girl.” Jensen was born in Loegstoer, Denmark, on January 15, 1891, to farmer and wool merchant Joergen Christian and his wife Christiane. He was the third of four children. He migrated to Australia at 18 and moved to South Australia, where he worked as a sailor on the Murray, based at Morgan. He was naturalised on September 7, 1914. He enlisted on March 23, 1915, with the service number 2389, and was posted to the 6th Reinforcements of the 10th Battalion. He joined his unit at Gallipoli on September 28, where he remained until November 22 when the battalion left for Lemnos and did not return before the December evacuation. In 1916 he moved from Egypt to France and after recovering from a wound, was transferred to the 50th Battalion. In France, on April 2, 1917, he took charge of five men and attacked a barricade manned by about 40 Germans and a machinegun. One of his men shot down the gunner and Jensen threw a bomb and rushed the post. He extracted the pin of one bomb with his teeth while holding another, forcing the Germans to surrender. Details of Joergen Jensen’s war service. Details of Joergen Jensen’s war service. A prisoner was sent to a neighbouring enemy party to demand they surrender too, but they were fired on by other Australians nearby. Jensen ignored the danger and stood waving his helmet until the firing ceased. He was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross. Ms Winger believes he was the only Australian VC born outside of a Commonwealth country. Victoria Cross medal recipient Private Joergen Christian Jensen WWI. Victoria Cross medal recipient Private Joergen Christian Jensen WWI. On April 4 1917, he was promoted to lance corporal and was made corporal three months later. On May 5, 1918, in Villers-Bretonneux, Jensen was wounded and on December 12, 1918, he was discharged from the AIF. He worked in the city as a marine store dealer and married divorcee Katy Herman – Lois’s mother – at the Adelaide Registry Office on July 13, 1921. Ten months later he was admitted to hospital with congestion of the lungs and died on May 31, 1922, aged 31. He is buried at West Tce and his Victoria Cross is on display in the Australian War Memorial. There is a statue erected in his memory in his hometown in Denmark. dailytelegraph.au/news/danish-immigrant-joergen-jensens-courage-under-fire-was-the-centre-of-many-conversations-in-adelaide-after-world-war-i/story-fnii5yv6-1227194434140
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 08:41:25 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015