PROMOTING THE HISTORY AND ARCHIVES OF MT COMPASS
Jacobs, Noel
Noel Edwards Jacobs (Rank: Driver)
Noel was born at Hindmarsh on the 24th December 1919 (Christmas Eve -hence his name). His parents were Earnest (Earn) Edward Jacobs and Ellie Pearl Jacobs (nee Goodall). They had four other children, Horace, Oscar, Edith and Betty.
After leaving school, Noel worked on the family property on Nangkita Road. He helped with the dairy and growing vegetables, allowing his father to conduct a south coast vegetable round.
He enlisted on 22nd May 1940 and was called up for duty a week later on 31st May 1940. He remained within Australia until December 1940, when he embarked for the Middle East with the 2/6 Australian Field Ambulance. Neighbour Stan Roberts also enlisted at this time and joined the same unit as Noel. Stan married Noel’s sister Eda in 1940, just before they were deployed to the Middle East.
When his brother Oscar also enlisted, their father Earn had to give up his Port Elliott/Middleton fruit and vegetable round to return working full time on the farm.
A strong recollection of Noel’s was the scarcity of water in the Middle East. The men took the opportunity of bathing whenever they could in a 44 gallon drum of water, which was shared by the men in turn, although they did get a shock when one day a truck reversed into this drum and a bathing soldier was sent flying!
He would later recall having to drive his ambulance through land-mined areas at night, without lights to retrieve the wounded. They would then have to drive back to the hospital past these same land mines.
Like many of those serving overseas in WW2, he spent some time in hospital with two bouts of malaria as well as a month with diptheria. He returned to Australia via Bombay in early 1942 and was later sent to New Guinea for four months in September that year, before returning once again to Australia.
Noel married Dorothy Beth Manning on 4th February 1943 with his new wife then staying with her parents at Encounter Bay. Soon after the wedding, Noel was transferred to Queensland for four months before being granted 40 days leave without pay.
Noel served with the 7th Aust Division MT Pool and was sent to New Guinea for a second time In October 1943. It was while serving here that he received a telegram from home. Fearing bad news about his parents, he asked his mate Bill Lewis, to be alongside him while he read it. Noel was pleasantly surprised however, to read notification of the birth of his first child (Helen), born three weeks premature.
Noel would cut other service men’s hair which earned him enough spending money to save his army pay for home.
He did not talk openly about his experiences during the war until after reaching the age of 80, when he began to mention some of these memories to his family. Deciding not to join the RSL, he kept in close contact with a group of about ten mates who served with him, some of them living in Victoria by then.
They would meet once a year and kept in regular phone contact, even as their number began to decline. These mates gathered together each year for a meal and a yarn, close to Anzac Day but Noel chose not to join in with any of the marches.
In his later recollections of these times, Noel would speak highly of the “Fuzzy Wuzzies” (a term of endearment) – the New Guinean men who carried the wounded Aussie soldiers for miles along the Kokoda Track. Noel’s ambulance could only be driven so far, with the wounded having to be carried to them on the wooden-framed stretchers, assisted by these men. The long walks, the heat and the men’s tiredness through all this was emphasised by Noel.
Following his return to Australia in March 1944, Noel had three more bouts of malaria that year and his medical classification was downgraded. He had other medical issues but was not formally discharged until 11th June 1945.
It was during a return bout of diptheria which saw Noel placed in the Repatriation Hospital, that his family discovered the sad truth about his brother Oscar. Noel happened to be placed in a bed alongside one of the four survivors from the sinking of Oscar’s ship back in 1942. This man along with Oscar, had been floating in the water using wooden planks to stay afloat. Unfortunately, Oscar became exhausted while trying to help others and drowned just hours before the rescue boats arrived.
Upon hearing this, Noel arranged for the hospital staff to phone his family in Mount Compass, who rushed down to hear the sad story of their son’s final hours. Prior to this they had not known for certain what Oscar’s fate had been. (Refer to his Honour Roll story on this website).
Noel received the 1939-45 Star, the Africa Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45 and the Australian Service Medal 1939-45.
After the war, Noel and Beth would build a house on the swamp side of Nangkita Road (where the Gottfrieds live now) and across the road from his parent’s home.
Noel and Beth had seven children, Helen, Margaret (Marg), Joan, Gwenneth, Diane, Catherine and Robert. Noel was on the School’s Parent Committee when Mt Compass School expanded to include High School students. He also drove a school bus in the mid-1950s and was an Elder with the Church of Christ in Mt Compass.
Noel and Beth retired to Moana when he turned 60, where they would live for ten years, prior to moving to a retirement village at Morphett Vale.
Noel passed away on 26th November 2015, followed three months later by Beth on the 22nd February 2016. They were both cremated and their ashes buried together in the Mt Compass Cemetery.
References: Betty Jacobs memories book, trove.gov.nla.au, Service Records -NAA, Mt Compass Archives, Linton Jacobs, Marg Geering (nee Jacobs).
