10948
SCHEDLICH, Henry James
| Service Number: | 3123 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 43rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Book Binder |
| Memorials: | Payneham Sydenham Road Methodist Church Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 23 Jun 1917: | Involvement Private, 3123, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Jun 1917: | Embarked Private, 3123, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Adelaide | |
| 1 Aug 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 3123, Discharged from the war to go back to Australia to get treatment for his hernia. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College
Early Life
Henry James Schedlich was arrested by police for stealing in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. He was later trialed and found guilty of stealing, the amount of stolen possessions totaled to ninety-five dollars ($95 in 1908 is equal to just under $2500 today.) He was then sentenced to two years in jail in 1908.
He was married to Alma Schedlich and lived with her on 33 Fisher Street, Norwood, South Australia. They were both religious people and they were both Methodists (which is a branch of Christianity). He worked as a bookbinder to provide money for himself and his wife to live off.
He enlisted for war at the local town hall in Norwood on the 5th of March 1917. At the time of enlistment, he was 44 years and 4 months old. He was average height for the time and stood at 5 feet and 4 and three-quarter inches. He weighed 65 kilograms which is a good healthy weight for his height.
Service During the War
He was a part of the 43rd battalion which was an all-volunteer force and consisted of people mainly from South Australia. Henry left for war on a boat called HMAT A30 on the 23rd of June 1917. He was overseas for a total of 93 days and most of them were spent on the HMAT A30 at sea. Things only seemed to get worse for Henry James Schedlich after this.
The people from the 43rd battalion had to train before going to the Western Front to fight in the trenches. Henry trained for a couple of weeks to improve his accuracy when shooting and to know what to do if the Germans and Austro Hungarian’s tried certain tactics against them. Henry was never able to use his training skills because he never made it to the Western Front and enter the trenches as he had to come home early. He had been diagnosed with a hernia on the 31st of July 1917 and had to be shipped back to Australia immediately to have treatment on his hernia.
While Henry James Schedlich was recovering from his hernia back in Australia the 43rd battalion fought on the Western Front. The first major battle they were involved in was the Battle of Messines. The Battle of Messines was the first battle that Australian and New Zealand troops had fought together since the tragedy of Gallipoli. The 43rd battalion continued to fight in France along the Western Front until the very end of the war. The other major battles that the 43rd battalion fought in were the Third battle of Ypres, the 100-day offense and the battle of Mont Saint-Quentin.
ANZAC SPIRIT AND MEDALS
While Henry James Schedlich was not at the war for very long he still showed the ANZAC spirit through his courage to enlist for war. He may have heard rumors of how the war was bad or he may have had loved ones who had died at war but instead of being scared he decided to represent his country and go fight for the people back in Australia.
The only medals that Henry James Schedlich won were the Victory Medal and the British War Memorial Medal. While every single soldier that enlisted for the war got those three medals Henry still showed great amount of courage enlisting for war at 44 years old to represent and defend his country.
Post War
Henry James Schedlich returned from war to receive treatment for his hernia. Luckily the treatment was successful and he got to live a normal life with his wife after that. He even lived old enough to get his seniors pension.
Bibliography
RSL Virtual War Memorial | Australian Soldiers, Memorials and Military History. 2018. RSL Virtual War Memorial | Australian Soldiers, Memorials and Military History. [ONLINE] Available at: https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/projects/15034/edit. [Accessed 15 March 2018].
Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War | The Australian War Memorial. 2018. Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War | The Australian War Memorial. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/AWM4/. [Accessed 15 March 2018].
Visit | The Australian War Memorial. 2018. Visit | The Australian War Memorial. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit. [Accessed 15 March 2018].
Trove. 2018. Advanced Search - Trove. [ONLINE] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/?q&adv=y. [Accessed 25 March 2018].
AIF ADFA. 2018. Details. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=267752. [Accessed 26 March 2018].
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