John Campbell Ross

Who was John Campbell Ross?

John Campbell Ross was at the time of his death Australia's oldest man and the last Australian veteran of the First World War. He was the last surviving Australian man born in the 19th Century.

Born in Newtown, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Ross served as a wireless operator in the First Australian Imperial Force, enlisting in January 1918, but never left Australia or saw active service. He later went on to serve in the Second World War as a corporal with the 20th Battalion, Volunteer Defence Corps.

His wife, Irene, had been deceased by several decades before Jack Ross's death. He is survived by a son, Robert, a daughter, Peggy Ashburn, four grandchildren- Janette, Heather, Kay, and John – and nine great-grand children.

On 11 November 1998, Jack Ross had been awarded the 80th Anniversary Armistice Medal to mark the end of World War I. Jack also had been awarded the Centenary Medal for doing his share to the Australian society in the 100 years since the federation.

The death of William Evan Allan in October 2005 left Ross as the last Australian digger from World War I. However Claude Choules, a World War I veteran who served for Britain, lived in Western Australia. Ross became Australia's oldest man at the age of 108, on 12 June 2007, upon the death of Frank Scarrabelotti. Following the death of 112-year-old E. Beatrice Riley, he was verified as the oldest person in Australia.