John Cicolini (known to all as Jack) was the eldest of three sons of Mary Jane and Emanuele Cicolini whose farm was located at 150 Koppin Yarratt Road, Upper Lansdowne. He was 26 when he enlisted to serve in WW1 on 16 November 1915 at Liverpool and was allocated to the 14th Reinforcement, 7th Light Horse Regiment which became the 2nd Light Horse Brigade..He served with his younger brothers Raymond and Horace and they all left Sydney on the “Malakuta” on 16 March 1916 and on his arrival at Tel-el-Kebir on 23 April 1916 was posted to the 2nd Light Horse Brigade. He didn’t remain there long, being transferred to the Artillery and heading on to England. He disembarked at Rouen on 17 July 1916 and proceeded to the 1st Anzac Ammunition Park. On 11 December 1916 he was sent to hospital for a week with influenza. He had another bout of flu in April 1917 and again spent time in hospital. Jack was granted leave to travel to England on 12 August 1917 and on his return to the front was admitted to hospital with mumps. He finally returned to his unit on 8 September 1917. Two weeks later he was appointed driver and on 22 January 1918 was transferred to No 5 Ordnance Gun Park and on 12 March 1918 was taken on the strength of the A.D.M.T.C. He remained with them till the cessation of hostilities. Jack was granted another period of leave in England on 24 September 1918. He and his brother Horace finally sailed for Australia on 2 June 1919 on board the “Beltana”. Jack received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
On 31 May 1918, his brother Raymond was severely wounded at Allonville when German shells destroyed the barn he was billeted in. Jack and his brother Horace were with him when he died of his wounds on 3 June 1918 in the 5th Casualty Clearing Station. The two brothers and their friends engraved a copper plaque that was placed on the wooden cross when their brother was buried, as we understand, in the small military cemetery at Rivière. In October 1919 the graves of 42 fallen, including Raymond, were moved to the British Military Cemetery at Crouy-sur-Somme. The copper plaque from the original wooden cross was returned to his mother and is now a treasured possession of one of his nephews.
While in camp in Australia Jack and his brothers were pioneers of the Catholic Soldiers’ Guild which established the following rules: ‘1. That members pledge themselves to obey orders and the camp regulations and help towards their observance; 2. To avoid and prevent a) drunkenness, b) impurity, c) swearing; 3 Regularity in saying morning and evening prayers; 4. Members shall assemble nightly at the Catholic recreation tent to say the Rosary; 5. Members shall come at least once a month in a body on church parade to receive Holy Communion’. (Freeman’s Journal 3 February 1916.)
Jack settled back into farm life and married Mary Elizabeth Payne (known as Polly), one of seven daughters of Alexander John and Mary Ann Payne of Paynes Lane. Along with all returned servicemen, he received a grant of acreage under the Soldier Settler Scheme. The property was on the Comboyne where he farmed for a period of time. He and Polly had 2 sons, Raymond and John (Jack) and continued to farm on their portion of the original Cicolini farm. The dairy and holding yards were then located on the corner of Koppin Yarratt Road and what is now Cicolini Close. Jack and Polly eventually moved into Taree where they lived for some time. Jack died on 1 April 1971 aged 81 and is buried in the Dawson River Cemetery along with Polly who died on 22 June 1978.
A link to his Active Service form is here.
