216364 Supply Sgt John "Jack Rabbit" Herbert British Army 17th Btn. London Regiment from:West Ham, London John Herbert, born 1892 was my Grandfather.
We know very little about him during his young years. I knew him and loved him dearly as my Grandpop, but his life before he and my Grandmother emigrated to Australia in 1929 was not to be discussed.
He grew up in the East End of London, the youngest of seven children, his mother died when he was six, his father remarried and Grandpop was raised by his oldest sister.
The little I do know about his WW1 life has been pieced together from a few old photos, many sporting medals, his Service Medal Card and Medals (Pip, Squeak & Wilfred), and an autograph book he carried with him through France and WW1 with many of the Autographs ending in 'Somewhere in France' and a date. His Service Record was destroyed during WW2, so I have followed the 17th London Regiment from two books. One called The Poplars by Ron Wilcox, and was surprised to see my Grandpop in the photo on the front cover, and the second - 47th (London) Division 1914 – 1919 by Allan H Maude.
John Herbert enlisted in 1913, well before WW1, was promoted to Supply Sergeant in 1916, he was disembodied in 1919. His rank of Supply Sergeant might explain his surviving the entire war as he was fortunate enough not to have been on the front line nor in the trenches, but spent most of the war behind the lines. He passed away in Brisbane Australia, in 1976.
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