HENDERSON, Austin Garnet
| Service Number: | 1190 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 38th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ballarat, vic., 1888 |
| Home Town: | Ballarat, Central Highlands, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Messenger |
| Memorials: | Hawthorn Postmaster General's Department Victoria 1 |
World War 1 Service
| 23 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1190, 38th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 1190, 38th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 1190, 38th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Melbourne |
Austin Garnet Henderson
Austin was a messenger prior to enlistment, in Ballarat, Vic. He was wounded at Broodsiende Ridge, near Passchendaele, Belgium on 11/10/1917 and after recovering from those shrapnel wounds was affected by a gas attack. His Sergeant, who became Australia's oldest citizen, Jack Lockett, felt sorry for Pop who was the youngest in the platoon and had him transferred to the Australian Army Postal Corps where he rode around on a Triumph motor cycle delivering instructions to the trenches from HQ; he was given a year to live in 1919 on return from Europe due to the gas attack, and awarded 7 shillings and sixpence a week by way of a pension. Pop got my grandmother, Sarah May Hughes pregnant with my father in 1921, he joined the PMG dept. and ended up a postmaster in various towns in Vic. When they gave the news to Sarah's father, Hughie Hughes, he tok a quid out of his pocket, gave it to Aussie and told him to keep filling up his motorbike and get as far away from Melbourne as he could as he was about to marry the wrong woman, so family lore has it.
They were happily married for 63 years.
Ian Henderson [ Grandson ]
Submitted 9 April 2024 by Ian Henderson
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