LANSER, Henry Miller
| Service Number: | 712 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 September 1914, Kensington, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 1st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Paddington, New South Wales, Australia, April 1890 |
| Home Town: | Waverley, Waverley, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Waverley Public School and Fort Street High School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Mechanic |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 5 November 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
Grevillers British Cemetery Plot I, Row AA, Grave No. 20 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Petersham Fort Street High School Great War Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 712, Kensington, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 712, 1st Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Oct 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 712, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Sydney | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 712, 1st Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 14 Feb 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1st Infantry Battalion | |
| 5 Aug 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 1st Infantry Battalion | |
| 5 Nov 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 1st Infantry Battalion, 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 1 Battalion awm_rank: Second Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1916-11-05 |
Extract from AWM Roll Of Honour
Henry Miller LANSER
Regimental number 712
Place of birth: Paddington, New South Wales
School Waverley Public School, and Fort Street Public School, New South Wales
Religion Church of England
Occupation Motor mechanic
Address Robinson Street, Chatswood, New South Wales
Marital status Single
Age at embarkation 24
Next of kin E. Lanser Esq. Kooranga, Robinson Street, Chatswood, New South Wales
Previous military service Served in the Cadets.
Enlistment date 2 September 1914
Rank on enlistment Private
Unit name 1st Battalion, F Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number 23/18/1
Embarkation details Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board Transport A19 Afric on 18 October 1914
Rank from Nominal Roll 2nd Lieutenant
Fate Killed in Action 5 November 1916
Place of death or wounding Flers, France
Age at death 26
Place of burial Grevillers British Cemetery (Plot I, Row AA, Grave No. 20), France
Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial 29
Parents: Edward and Bertha LANSER, 36 Ocean Street, Bondi, New South Wales
Submitted 17 April 2015 by Ian Lanser Lanser
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From AWM
Henry Miller Lanser, known as “Miller”, was born in 1890, the eldest son of Edward and Bertha Lanser of Paddington, New South Wales. He attended the Waverly Public and Fort Street Schools, and went on to become a motor mechanic. He was also member of the local senior cadets.
Lanser enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 2 September 1914. He was posted to the 1st Battalion, and after a brief period of training in Australia left with the first contingent on the 18 October 1914, arriving in Egypt that December.
While in Egypt Lanser took the opportunity to make a recording of his voice at a small record manufacturing business. He sent the pressed shellac disc and metal stamper home to his family. On it he said: I hope you all had a real jolly good Christmas – we did, I know. And of course it’s … not really the first time I’ve been away for Christmas, but I was anxious to get back for this one. But here I am, here now – I am really enjoying myself and that’s the main thing …
On 25 April 1915 the 1st Battalion landed at Anzac Cove as part of the second and third waves of the Gallipoli landings. During the confusion of these early days Lanser was wounded with a gunshot to the left knee. He was evacuated from the peninsula in early May and spent some time recovering in a hospital in Egypt. He re-joined his battalion on Gallipoli at the end of July 1915. Lanser’s battalion participated in the attack on Lone Pine on 6 August. At some point during this battle Lanser received gunshot wounds to the chest and arm. He was once more evacuated, and was not fit to return to his battalion until early in 1916.
In March 1916 Lanser travelled to France with his battalion to fight on the Western Front. He attended a school of instruction in Belgium and shortly afterwards received his commission as a second lieutenant. He went on to fight on the Somme in July, when the 1st Division captured the French village of Pozières. He spent much of the rest of the year at training courses in Stokes trench mortars and Lewis machine-guns.
On 5 November 1916 the 1st Battalion participated in an operation near the French village of Flers. Second Lieutenant Lanser led his men into no man’s land, where he was hit by machine-gun fire. Reports indicate that he was killed instantly. His body was not recovered for some months, but he was eventually buried nearby. Henry Miller Lanser is buried in the Grevillers British Cemetery in Grevillers, France.
In Australia his parents were left with a unique record of their son in what has become known as the “Lanser disc”.
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