A chapter in Australian history has ended with the death of Victorian man Jack Ross, the last of 416,000 Australians who enlisted for service in World War I. Mr Ross was the nation's last World War I soldier even though he never left Australia or saw active service. John Campbell Ross, who died on Wednesday in a nursing home at Bendigo aged 110, served as a wireless operator in the First Australian Imperial Force. He enlisted in February 1918 at Maryborough in central Victoria but the war ended nine months later and he was demobilised on Christmas Eve. His mother gave him permission to join the army as long as he was posted to the wireless and telegraph section. Her other son Harrie had suffered spinal injuries while fighting in France and she didn't want Jack to meet a similar fate. During World War II, he served in the Voluntary Defence Force. Mr Ross worked for the Victorian Railways for more than 45 years and retired in 1964. He last attended a local Anzac Day march four years ago, but since then found it difficult to get in or out of a car. He watched the last couple of marches on television. "It's always a very sad time for him," explained his daughter Peggy Ashburn. "He would like to be in the march but there is no way he can do it." The non-drinker and non-smoker known as "Pop" celebrated his 110th birthday at the Golden Oaks nursing home last March with lots of chocolates and some cake. Mr Ross remained a passionate fan of the Essendon AFL club but switched his allegiance in recent years to cricket because "football is too rough". He was also a life-long member of the Labor Party who insisted on registering a postal vote in the last federal election and was delighted when Kevin Rudd won. Mr Rudd wrote to him to mark his 110th birthday. His family recycled the numbers on the birthday cake from when he turned 101, just switching the digits. The last Australian serviceman who saw action in World War I was seaman William Evan Allan, who died in Melbourne aged 106 in October 2005. The last veteran of the western front was soldier Peter Casserly, who died in Perth aged 107 in June 2005. The last Gallipoli veteran was Tasmanian Alec Campbell who died aged 103 in May 2002. The last survivor of day one of the Gallipoli landings on April 25, 1915, was Sydney man Ted Matthews, aged 101 when he died in 1997. RIP Lest We Forget Paul
