John "Jack" Elliott (12 October 1901 – 3 July 1945) was a British

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who competed in the 1920s.

Biography

Elliott won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

boxing at the 1924 Summer Olympics These are the results of the boxing competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population ...

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, losing against the successful British boxer

Harry Mallin Henry William Mallin (1 June 1892 – 8 November 1969) was an English middleweight amateur boxer. He came originally from Hackney Wick, his younger brother was the Olympic boxer Fred Mallin. He lived in Dartmouth Park, North London and was ...

in the final bout. He won the Amateur Boxing Association 1924 and 1925 middleweight title, when boxing out of the

Polytechnic Boxing Club The Polytechnic Boxing Club for amateur boxing was formed in 1888 and is located at 309 Regent Street in London. The name "Polytechnic" comes from the Royal Polytechnic Institute having been formerly at that address which would later become the h ...

. At some point following his Olympic appearance, Elliott emigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. On 8 April 1941, a year-and-a-half after the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

Paddington, New South Wales Paddington is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located east of the Sydney central business district, Paddington lies across two Local government in Australia, local government areas. The portion south of Oxford St ...

, giving his residence as

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He was discharged as a

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...

in 1943 and became a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

. On 3 July 1945, while covering the invasion of Balikpapan with fellow journalist William Smith, Elliott went ahead of the advancing Australian troops; a

Bren gun The Bren gun (Brno-Enfield) was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by the United Kingdom in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in Worl ...

ner, believing them to be Japanese troops, shot and killed them both.

References

External links

* * * 1901 births 1945 deaths Middleweight boxers Olympic boxers for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Boxers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing England Boxing champions Olympic medalists in boxing British male boxers Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers Australian civilians killed in World War II Australian war correspondents British war correspondents of World War II Friendly fire incidents of World War II Military personnel killed by friendly fire Deaths by firearm in Indonesia Accidental deaths in Indonesia Journalists killed while covering World War II British emigrants to Australia {{UK-Olympic-medalist-stub