Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Harold was the son of John MUSGRAVE & Lavinia COVENTRY and was born on the 26th of August 1892 in Hindmarsh, SA.

His parents were married on the 19th of December 1889 in the Church of Christ, North Adelaide, SA.

His father was the son of Edward MUSGRAVE & Bridgett HASSET and was born on the 4th of August 1861 in Branxholme, VIC.
His mother was the daughter of Murray COVENTRY & Christina CHALMERS and was born on the 25th of March 1865 in Happy Valley, SA.

Harold was the second child born into this family of 7 children.

His father was a blacksmith and the family lived at Lurline Street, Mile End.

Then in the very early 1910’s they moved to Long Flat, Murray Bridge, where his father took up some land and along with blacksmithing he farmed pigs and a small dairy cow herd.
Long Flat is located on the east bank of the Murray River between the Swanport Bridge and the Old Murray Bridge.

After he had finished his schooling Harold gained employment as a clerk with the South Australian Railways.

With the outbreak of WW1 the young men in the Musgrave family began to enlist for service in the AIF.

His brother Rosslyn was the first to enlist on the 10th of September 1914 (165) and served with the 9th Light Horse Regiment at Gallipoli and in Egypt.

Then at the age of 23, Harold and his brother Murray enlisted into the AIF on the 19th of July 1915 in Keswick, SA.
Murray was allotted the service number 3181 and Harold was allotted the service number 3205.
They were both posted to N Group, Base Infantry, in Mitcham Camp.

Harold and Murray were then transferred to the 10th Battalion, 10th Reinforcements as part of the 3rd Brigade and embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Ballarat on the 14th of September 1915.

They trained for a few more weeks in Moascar Camp in Egypt before embarking for Lemnos Island en route to join his Battalion at Gallipoli.
Whilst they were here it was decided to start to withdraw from the Gallipoli Peninsula and the 10th Battalion withdrew on the 21st of November, so Harold and Murray never saw the Peninsula.
Harold was hospitalized with Influenza on Lemnos Island and then the brothers and their Battalion embarked for Alexandria.

The 10th Battalion was then split, as part of the “doubling” of the AIF, to form the 4th Australian Division and Harold was transferred to the newly raised 50th Battalion, whilst Murray remained with the 10th Battalion.

Harold then served in France where he suffered Shell Shock and whilst Harold was in France his eldest brother Francis enlisted into the AIF on the 7th of March 1917 and served with the 48th Battalion (51824).
Murray then received the Military Medal for great courage at Mont de Merris near Strazeele on night 29-30 May 1918. He had rushed an enemy machine gun post, capturing the gun and one prisoner and killing the remainder of the team.

Harold embarked for home on the 21st of December after more than 2 years overseas.
He spent Christmas 1917 on board the ship before disembarking in Melbourne on the 12th of February 1918 and entrained for Adelaide the following day.

However Harold detrained in Murray Bridge and returned to his family at Long Flat and that evening he attended the Long Flat Honour Roll unveiling in the Institute Hall and was welcomed home by the residence.

Harold was discharged, medically unfit, from the AIF on the 2nd of August 1918 and awarded the British War & Victory Medals.

Harold married Doris Muriel BLOTT on the 25th of October 1919 in the Methodist Parsonage, West Adelaide.
Doris was the daughter of Samuel John BLOTT & Annie DAVIES and was born on the 20th of September 1902 in Broken Hill, NSW.

They made their first home in Torrensville and welcomed Shirley into the family on the 6th of September 1921.
They then moved to Pt Augusta where Harold gained employment with the South Australian Railways and they welcome Harold William into the family on the 2nd of June 1925.

On the 7th of August 1926 they moved to Quorn where Harold was employed as a Porter at the Quorn Railway Station and they welcomed their last child; Margaret, into the family on the 9th of October 1927.

Harold played football for the Albions and Railway Teams, was a very talented cricketer for Quorn and joined the Quorn Returned Soldiers Association (now RSL).

They remained in Quorn until Harold retired from the Railways on the 12th of December 1951 and in 1954 they purchased a home at 3 Willsmore Street, Beverley.

Harold suffered from Tuberculosis and in 1959 his lung collapsed and he was admitted into the Daw Park Repatriation Hospital.

On the morning of the 23rd of May 1960 Harold got up and had breakfast at 8:15am and then went and sat in front of the fire as he felt ill and Doris gave him a hot water bottle.
Doris then put him back into bed about an hour later with 2 hot water bottles and then phoned for the doctor.
When she returned she found Harold rolling around the bed in pain and a few minutes later the doctor arrived and ordered Harold’s removal to the Daw Park Repatriation Hospital as he had acute bronchitis.

Harold arrived at the hospital by St Johns Ambulance at 10:45am, but sadly, just a few minutes later, he died.

Harold’s cause of death was contributed to the effect of extensive emphysema on a heart with small coronaries, through little atheroma.

Harold died on the 23rd of May 1960 in the Daw Park Repatriation Hospital and Doris buried him 2 days later in the Dudley Park Cemetery; Section TB, Path 14, Plot 0292.

Doris died on the 25th of May 1974 and was buried in the Dudley Park Cemetery.

Military

At the age of 23, Harold enlisted into the AIF on the 19th of July 1915 in Keswick, SA and was allotted the service number 3205 and posted to N Group, Base Infantry, in Mitcham Camp.
He listed his mother, of Long Flat, Murray Bridge, as his next of kin.

On the 16th of August he was transferred to the 10th Battalion, 10th Reinforcements as part of the 3rd Brigade.

Harold embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Ballarat on the 14th of September 1915, disembarked in Suez 4 weeks later and marched into the Base Light Horse Regiment in Moascar Camp.

After a few weeks of training he embarked for Lemnos Island en route to join his Battalion at Gallipoli.
At this time of year it was bitterly cold on Lemnos and they were camped in tents at Mudros Harbour awaiting their embarkation to Gallipoli.
Then just prior to his embarkation they received word that the main objective of Gallipoli had ultimately failed and the question was being asked as to whether the force of 100,000 men at Gallipoli were containing enough Turks to justify the force remaining on the Peninsula.

It was decided that they were not and the blizzard towards the end of November hastened the preparations to withdraw the force from Gallipoli scheduled for late December as it caused 200 deaths and 10,000 men unfit for service.
The 10th Battalion, as part of the 3rd Brigade, did not wait until the general withdrawal in December and on the 21st of November they withdrew from the Peninsula and sailed to Lemnos Island.

Just after their arrival on the Island Harold suffered from Influenza and was admitted into the 2nd Field Ambulance on the 24th of November and was then transferred to the 3rd Australian General Hospital at West Mudros.
Three days later he was transferred to the 27th British General Hospital and after spending 2 weeks here he was taken on strength with the 10th Battalion on the 11th of December.

The blizzard that had started at Gallipoli in late November then reached Lemnos Island causing floods and frosts.

Harold spent Christmas Day 1915 on Lemnos Island and then the following day he and the 10th Battalion embarked from Mudros Harbour on board HMAT Seang Bee, disembarked in Alexandria 3 days later and entrained to Tel-el-Kebir.

Towards the end of January, after having spent the time in resting, reorganising and training they proceeded to the Suez Canal Defences at Habieta.
Here they were engaged in an outpost system digging trenches that filled in often as fast as they were dug.

It was here that they were split, as part of the “doubling” of the AIF, to form the 4th Australian Division with each Battalion sending 500 men of all ranks.
The sister Battalion to the 10th Battalion was now the 50th Battalion, which was raised on the 26th of February, and Harold was transferred to this new Battalion and posted to 2 Company in Serepeum.

The 50th Battalion became part of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Australian Division and was dubbed "Hurcombe's Hungry Half Hundred", after its first CO, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Hurcombe.

On the 5th of June they proceeded to France from Alexandria, disembarking in Marseilles 7 days later.
By the 1st of July they had moved to Fleurbaix and into the front line and after 10 days in the trenched they marched out to Bailleul then onto Heissart.

On the 1st of August they began their move to Brickfields for their first Battle.
They fought in their first major Battle at Mouquet Farm between the 13th and 15th of August and suffered heavy casualties.
One of these casualties was Harold, who suffered from Shell Shock and was admitted into the 1st ANZAC Receiving Station for 24 hours.

They then took part in another assault launched there on the 3rd of September and then spent the remainder of September and early October at Dickebusch with fatigue duty.

The Battalion saw out the rest of the year alternating between front-line duty and training and labouring behind the line in and around Fricourt.
By the 24th of November they had moved to Benafay Wood into training before entraining and marching to Buire on the 6th of December, for further training.

On the 18th of December they entrained to St Vaast, where they spent Christmas 1916, before marching 8 miles to Cardonette on the 3rd of January 1917.
The following day they march to Buire and then on the 6th they marched to Fricourt and onto Bezantin and into the front line trenches.
They were relieved on the 27th of January and moved to Perth Camp, at Bernafay and after 3 weeks here they relieved the 51st Battalion in the front line.
Ten days later, they moved to Bazentin and then onto Buire for further training and reorganisation.

On the 22nd of March they moved to Mametz Camp before they took over the front line south of Noreuil.
They then participated in the advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and attacked at Noreuil on the 2nd of April.
During this attach Harold suffered as Guns Shot Wound to his nose and was admitted into the 4th Australian Field Ambulance and then transferred to the 9th Casualty Clearing Station at Lillers the following day.

He was then transferred to the 2nd Canadian Stationary Hospital at Outreau and after 10 days he was discharged to the 7th Convalescent Depot at Marlborough Camp, in Boulogne on the 16th of April.
Five days later he was discharged to the 4th ADBD (Australian Division Base Depot) in Etaples and then rejoined his Battalion on the 28th of May at Outtersteene in training.

Later that year, the focus of AIF operations moved to the Ypres sector in Belgium. There Harold and his Battalion were then involved in the Battle of Messines between the 7th and 12th of June.

By the 1st of July they were at De Suele Camp, near Ploegsteert Wood in Divisional Reserve where they continued training.
It was here on the 10th of July that Harold suffered from a Venereal Disease and was admitted into the 13th Australian Field Ambulance and then transferred to the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station at Outtersteene.
The following day he was transferred to the 7th Convalescent Depot at Marlborough Camp, in Boulogne and then onto the 39th General Hospital in Boulogne.

He spent 4 weeks in this hospital and was then discharged to the 4th ADBD in Etaples. Harold did not rejoin his Battalion; instead he was transferred to England on the 6th of November and marched into No.2 Command Depot in Weymouth.

Harold embarked for Australia on the 21st of December 1917 on board HT Persic and after Spending Christmas 1917 on board the ship he disembarked in Melbourne on the 12th of February 1918 and entrained to Adelaide the following day.

Harold was discharged, medically unfit, from the AIF on the 2nd of August 1918 and awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War & Victory Medals.