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240590 1st/5th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment
John Jay was born in Sudbury in 1895 and was one of four children and only son of Arthur Maurice and Emma Francis Jay (née Tunbridge). His father was a plumber and house painter and the family lived at Notley Villa, Meadow Lane before later moving to 32 Gainsborough Road. At the age of 15 John was employed as a builder’s apprentice.
John enlisted in Colchester and served with the Suffolk Regiment (formerly 2442). He landed with the battalion at Suvla Bay in early August and saw action against the Turks, advancing through heavy enemy fire without any artillery support from their own side to gain 1,300 yards. The battalion suffered 186 killed or wounded and a further 160 sick, the majority suffering with dysentery. The battalion was garrisoned at Hill 60 and had to endure disease, swarms of flies, heat, water shortage and lack of transport. John had a lucky escape when a shell burst and smashed his rifle but left him unharmed.
He served alongside other Sudbury men including his Commanding Officer Lt. Colonel William Armes, CSM Wilfred Hunt, Albert Byham, Harry Farrant, Bertie Martin and David Pettit, who all lost their lives in this campaign.
After the battalion had been evacuated from Gallipoli in December 1915 they were sent to defend the Suez Canal. They would spend the rest of the war in the Middle East fighting the Turks.
In 1917 the battalion saw action in the failed attempt to capture the town of Gaza which was an important costal gateway from Egypt. They finally succeeded at the Third Battle of Gaza (31 October – 7 November), a decisive victory for the Allies but at a cost of 18,000 Allied troops killed, missing or wounded.
In September 1918 the battalion saw action at the Battle of Megiddo (19 – 23 September). John aged 23 was killed in action on 19 September 1918 during the main attack, just six weeks before the Turks signed an Armistice on 31 October 1918.
John lies buried in Ramleh War Cemetery, Israel. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
He is also remembered on the Trinity Congregational Church Memorial which was moved to the United Reformed Church, School Street when Trinity closed. The United Reformed Church closed in 2017 and it is proposed that the memorials from both churches will be relocated to the Sudbury Cemetery Chapel.
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