Private James Charles Martin is known as the youngest Australian soldier ever to die on active service. His enlistment papers state that he was born on 3 January 1901 in Hawthorn, New South Wales. At first only his parents and best friend Cec Hogan, who was 16 at the time, knew that James was 14 and 3 months old when he joined the army because he looked much older for his age and his voice was already broken. James's father, Charles, was born in Auckland, New Zealand to Jewish parents. When he emigrated to Australia he changed his surname to Martin so as not to be discriminated against as a Jew. His mother was born in Bendigo Australia after his parents had emigrated to Australia during the gold rushes of the 1850s. James was the third child out of six in his family. He was the only son. James was always interested in the military. He joined the compulsory cadet training program while at Manning Tree Road State School. It was here that he first learned basic military training. When his father was rejected by the Army, James, who was the only son in his family, said he would join instead. James' parents did not want him to join the army since he was only 14 years and 3 months, but his father soon allowed him to do so. At the time it was required that anyone over 18 could join, but those under 21 had to have written parental consent, so James threatened his mother that he would run away and join up under another name. He also said he would not write to her when he was deployed, so his mother agreed to give consent for him to join. He provided a false birth certificate stating he was 18 years old. In an interview with his sister Ryebuck Media in 1984 he claimed that James said: “...... middle of the paper ...... h October. That night James developed severe diarrhea and died of heart failure 2 hours after arriving. He was buried at sea the next day. He was only 14 years and 9 months. There is a memorial for James on the Lone Pine Memorial in Gallipoli. After his death, Matron Reddoch, one of the nurses who tried to care for James, wrote a letter about him to his mother. On 18 October the Melbourne Herald published an article stating: "Youngest soldier dead". After his death James received the Star Award, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. The story of Private James Charles Martin was written by Anthony Hill in his book “Soldier Boy” which tells the story of the lives of young Australian soldiers. Although he was not the youngest soldier to enlist in the First World War, he is considered the youngest Australian soldier to have died while on active service.