ROSS, Henry Hassal
| Service Number: | 2865 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 April 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Andersons Bay, Dunedin, New Zealand, 1879 |
| Home Town: | Skipton, Pyrenees, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Geelong College, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | School Master |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 17 July 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais Plot I, Row T, Grave No.21. GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Geelong College WW1 Roll of Honour, Kings Park Western Australia State War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2865, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, 2865, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Nov 1916: | Embarked Private, 2865, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Argyllshire, Fremantle |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Henry Hassal Ross was the son of The Rev. Charles Stuart Ross and Jane Ross, and husband of Emily Eliza Charlotte Ross, of Orange Grove, Camberwell, Victoria. He was the father of four children, aged from 4 to 13 years, when he died at 38 years of age.
When he enlisted in Perth during April 1916, his younger brother, 389 Sergeant James Forbes Ross 6th Battalion AIF, had been killed in action for almost twelve months, losing his life at the Anzac landing on 25 April 1915, aged 27.
Henry was reported to be for two years dux of the Geelong College, and won at Ormond College the Thomson scholarship, which he relinquished to enter the civil service, then in 1903 he accepted an educational appointment in Western Australia, from which he retired to enlist in the A.I.F. During 1910, he and his family were living at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
Henry arrived in England during January 1917, and was taken on strength of the 51st Battalion in France on 13 May 1917. He was mortally wounded only two months later on 17 July 1917. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest the same day in the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station.
His wife Emily was living in West Perth at the time and she was granted a pension of 40 shillings per fortnight, and a combined total of 55 shillings per fortnight for the four children. She never remarried and passed away in Melbourne during 1957.
Another even older brother, 3597 Private George Mico Ross 44th Battalion AIF, returned to Australia during 1919, at 41 years of age.
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