72036
GATES, Henry William Joseph
| Service Number: | 3644 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 June 1917, at Adelaide |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 50th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Upper Sturt, South Australia, January 1896 |
| Home Town: | Upper Sturt, Adelaide Hills, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Gardener |
| Memorials: | Aldgate War Memorial, District of Upper Sturt Methodist Church Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Jun 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3644, 50th Infantry Battalion, at Adelaide | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Aug 1917: | Involvement Private, 3644, 50th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
| 4 Aug 1917: | Embarked Private, 3644, 50th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Themistocles, Melbourne | |
| 7 Jul 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 3644, 50th Infantry Battalion, GSW head |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Heathfield High School
Henry William Joseph Gates was born in January 1896 in Upper Sturt and decided to enlist for WW1 1914-1918. He weighed approximately 54kg and was 5ft 2 with blue eyes and brown hair. Being 5ft 2 he was very short even for that time but didn’t lack character. Before enlisting into the war Henry’s profession was a gardener and he was living with his father William Gates. Before going to war he had served 4 years as a senior cadet and so he had some knowledge of war and a small amount of training before heading off.
Henry enlisted in Adelaide on the 13th of June 1917. And he embarked for war in Melbourne on the HMAT Themistocles A32 on the 4th of August 1917. His rank was private. His service number was 3644 and he was in the 50th Battalion-10 reinforcements. The 50th Battalion was the ‘pup’ of the 10th Battalion and shared the same purple and blue colours on its ‘patch’. Most of the soldiers from this unit were enlisted from South Australia.
Henry disembarked Glasgow on the 2nd of October 1917. On the 7th of July 1918 he was wounded in combat and withdrawn from battle. On the 8th he was admitted to the 4th Australian Field Ambulance suffering with a severe gunshot wound to the head. One day later on the 9th he was transferred to 5th General Hospital and then on the 13th transferred back to England for further treatment. After that, 3 months later on the 1st of October 1918 he was discharged from hospital and later that year in November he finally left England per hospital transport “Gaika” for return to Australia.
Finally, after a long journey back to the mainland on the 29th of June 1918 Henry arrived back home in Australia. He landed in Melbourne and made his way back to Upper Sturt. 4 months later Henry was discharged from the imperial forces altogether due to being medically unfit to continue in the war. Henry William Joseph Gates served a total of 1 year 297 days in the Australian army and won the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his efforts. He went through a lot of hardship throughout the war and in the imperial forces with his injuries but survived in one piece which was an amazing feat.
By Felix Bauer