James Martin (Australian soldier)

James Charles Martin was the youngest Australian known to have died in World War I. He was onlyyears and nine months old when he succumbed to typhoid during the Gallipoli campaign. He was one ofAustralian soldiers under the age ofknown to have died in World War I.

James Martin was born to Amelia and Charles Martin onJanuary 1901 in Tocumwal, New South Wales. His father was born Charles Marks, in Auckland, New Zealand however, after emigrating to Australia and settling in Tocumwal, he changed his name to Martin to avoid discrimination for being Jewish. Charles worked as a grocer, handyman and cab driver, while Amelia was born in Bendigo in 1876 to Thomas and Frances Park. Her parents had emigrated to Australia during the gold rush in the 1850s. The youngest of twelve children, she married Charles just before her 18th birthday. Martins family moved to many different suburbs in and around Melbourne before finally settling in Hawthorn in 1910. He was the third of six children, and the only son. He attended Manningtree Road State School from 1910 to 1915, during which time he also received basic military training as a junior cadet under the compulsory training scheme.

Source: Wikipedia