Virtual
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Australia

Harold Childs, born 4 July 1898 in Tumbarumba, NSW, was the son of Alfred Childs and Elizabeth Childs (nee Hines).

Childs enlisted in Melbourne on 27 November 1916, aged 18, leaving his job as a labourer. He joined the 19th Reinforcements, 22nd Battalion AIF. The 19th Reinforcements embarked from Melbourne on 11 May 1917 aboard HMAT A11 Ascanius. The ship arrived in Devonport, England, on 20 July 1917, and he was marched into the 6th Training Battalion. On 25 August 1917, he was admitted to Fargo Military Hospital with Tonsilitis. Five days later, he was discharged and returned to the 6th Training Battalion.

He was reported Absent Without Leave (AWL) on 31 October 1917 and returned ex-AWL on 6 November. He was awarded 14 days detention and 7 days forfeiture of pay for his one-week absence. On 26 March 1918, he went AWL again, this time being found in possession of a comrade's pass. For this absence, he received 14 days of Field Punishment, No. 2. On 22 April 1918, he was marched into the 5th Training Battalion at Fovant. His third AWL offence occurred when he went absent on 22 April 1918 until he was apprehended on 20 June 1916.

He proceeded to France on 29 August 1918 and marched into the Base Depot at Le Havre on 31 August 1918. He was taken on strength with the 22nd Battalion on 3 September 1918; however, the Battalion's return for September 1918 shows the first reinforcements that month, arrived on 6 September when eight men were added. Harold Childs was most likely present with the Battalion from that time. The 22nd Battalion was part of 6 Brigade AIF, 2nd Division.

The Battalion had come out of the line on 4 September 1918, having been heavily engaged in the preceding five days during the Mont St. Quentin operation, which gave the BEF the high ground overlooking Peronne. Most of the rest of the month was spent refitting, training and resting at Cappy. The Battalion War Diary records that intra-battalion games of rugby and soccer were played as part of the resting. This rest period was a better way for Harold Childs to assimilate with the men of the Battalion than being sent into the line immediately upon joining. The Battalion had suffered significant casualties during the opening stages of the 100 Days Campaign. Although there were some reinforcements like Harold Childs, they were insufficient to make up for the losses suffered and bring the Battalion up to full strength. Consequently, during this period, B Company was broken up, and its platoons were added to the other Companies in the Battalion.

The 22nd Battalion left Cappy at 7.15 pm on 27 September, beginning a five-day route march. The Battalion marched in the dark to avoid observation by German planes. At this time, the 1st and 4th Australian Divisions had successfully taken the Outpost Line in preparation for the main attack on the Hindenburg Line by the British Fourth Army in the vicinity of the Bellicourt Tunnel on the St. Quentin Canal. The 3rd and 5th Australian Divisions, fighting alongside the American 27th and 30th Divisions, had exhausted themselves in their attack. The 2nd Division had been held in reserve and was now required, with the British 50th Division, to attack the fourth and final obstacle, the Beaurevoir Reserve Line.

On the afternoon of 3 October 1918, the Battalion moved up to the Beaurevoir Line. The 6th Brigade was the Division Reserve. However, the 5th and 7th Brigade attacks earlier in the day had not gone according to plan, with thick wire presenting a difficult obstacle and the late arrival of the supporting tanks ensuring the attack had failed to achieve its objectives. Though the weather was bright and sunny, sunken roads and banks provided sufficient cover for a careful advance to the 'JOT', an old trench system crossing the Estrees – Geneve road. The Brigade was almost in position when it was spotted by a German plane, resulting in immediate shelling of the area. However, casualties were slight. As the Battalion moved up to the jumping-off line, they traversed an area filled with enemy dead, the result of an attack earlier in the day by the 5th Brigade. The Battalion attacked at 18.30, having been given only seven minutes of preparation due to the late arrival of the orders.

The 22nd Battalion attacked on a frontage of 1,400 yards. The total strength of the Battalion at the start of the day was 29 Officers and 661 Other Ranks (ORs). 'A' Company were on the left of the Estrees – Geneve road with their objective a sunken road that ran between the road and La Motte Farm. 'C' Company's objective was to push through this objective and, with 'D' Company on the right, capture and consolidate the high ground overlooking Geneve. The Battalion was in the centre of the attack, with the 23rd on the right and the 24th on the left. After a limited 18-pounder barrage of six minutes, the waves pushed through the 18th Battalion in isolated outposts just beyond the JOT. Resistance was strongest along the Roman Road, which the 22nd Battalion attacked. As C.E.W Bean recorded in the Official History, the men of the 22nd were warned by members of the 5th Brigade near the road to 'mind the quarry', an excavation on the right of the road held by a strong German garrison, all of whom were bayoneted once the position was reached. The attack was carried out despite solid resistance by German machine-gunners on the left flank. All objectives were quickly secured, along with 100 prisoners, thirty machine guns, four 77mm guns, and one 5.9-inch howitzer. This very decisive victory cost the Battalion twenty casualties.

At 10.30 pm, the Battalion received instructions that the attack was to be continued in the morning in conjunction with the 23rd Battalion on the right and the British 7th Brigade on the left. For the attack, 'A' Company crossed from the left to the right of the road, with 'C' Company on the left and 'D' Company forming a defensive flank along the Torrens Canal. That night, the Transport and Quartermasters Staff delivered rations and stores to the men in the front line. The Battalion attack went in at 06.30 am. The fight of 4 October was much more severe than the previous day. The objectives lay about Geneve, just beyond the road leading from the village to Montbrehain and the right of Ponchaux. After advancing 1,000 yards, the first objective was taken by 'C' Company without difficulty. However, the second by 'D' and 'A' Companies was only captured after significant opposition from German machine guns. Still more costly fighting occurred in order to capture the final objective. The task had been made more difficult by heavy enemy fire from a factory just south of Geneve. The Manchesters, which had penetrated Beaurevoir Ponchaux, could not hold the village from which machine-gun and rifle fire were now being received. The 22nd Battalion's left flank was thus exposed until secured by the left-hand Company. By 10 am, the Battalion had completely consolidated all its objectives but at a severe cost, having lost twenty-two men killed in action and sixty-five wounded, including Private Harold Childs, who suffered a gunshot wound to the right thigh. He had been wounded in the Battalion's final battle of the war.


Having suffered the wound to his thigh, he was picked up and taken to the 5th Australian Field Ambulance before being transferred to 72nd General Hospital at Trouville on 6 October. On 14 October, he was transferred to England and admitted to the War Hospital in Exeter.

He was discharged from hospital on 18 November 1918, one week after the Armistice, and granted a furlough. Perhaps it was during this time that he met Elsie Andrews, who would soon become his wife. On 2 December 1918, having failed to return, he was reported AWL. By 24 January 1919, he had still not returned to the Battalion and was now declared an illegal absentee. However, three days later, he was admitted to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford, dangerously ill from Influenza. His recovery from the Spanish Flu took until early March, when he left the hospital without being discharged and was again reported AWL remaining absent until apprehended on 10 August 1919. At some point, he contracted VD and was admitted to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital at Bulford on 15 August 1919. After leaving Bulford under escort on 11 November 1919, he was detained at Lewes Detention Barracks for 28 days. Upon release, he was granted indefinite leave whilst awaiting a family ship for return to Australia. His service records show that he listed his next of kin as his mother, Elizabeth, upon enlistment. The next of kin was updated to his wife, Elsie Childs (nee Andrews) of Battersea in London. His civil marriage to Elsie had been registered in Wandsworth in October 1919. However, he had been in Bulford that month, so the civil ceremony must have occurred before his apprehension on 10 August.

On 16 April 1920, he left England with Elsie, who was only 19, aboard HT Hororata. The ship disembarked in Melbourne on 10 June 1920. Private Harold Childs was discharged from the 1st AIF on 11 July 1920.

Did the marriage of two young people who had met during the war turn out to be a happy one? Unfortunately, no records can provide a firm view; however, at the start of the Second World War, now aged 40, Harold Childs reenlisted on 25 October 1939 and was given the service number V81770. He listed his fiancée, Gertrude May Gardiner, as his next of kin. At the time, he was living in Sturt St, South Melbourne, and she was in the suburb of Armadale. What had happened to Elsie? He was posted to Area Command, Seymour, in Victoria. However, this was short-lived, and he was posted as a Deserter on 26 February 1940, having gone Absent Without Leave on 2 February 1940. Some things never change.

Harold Childs died on 14 April 1968, aged 69, and is buried in Hamilton Cemetery, Victoria.