Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Life Before War:
Henry Alfred Weinert was born in 1886, in Lobethal, South Australia. Before enlisting Henry's occupation was a farm laborer in Swan Reach where he had settled down, single. His next of kin was his mother named Mrs. Jane Egliton Weinert. He was 5’10 with brown hair and blue eyes, he had the complexion of fresh which meant he looked healthy and clean. His religion was the Church of England and his enlistment to World War 1 was his first military experience ever.
 
Life During War:
Henry Alfred Weinert was 30 when he enlisted on the 1st of February 1916 in Adelaide, Australia. He was enlisted as a driver and was appointed to the 43rd Infantry battalion, Henry stayed in this battalion for his whole time serving at war. Henry was given the regimental number of 18.  
Henry embarked on the 9th of June 1916 on the HMAT Afric A19 ship. When Henry first embarked, his battalion started in Morphettville where they were training and becoming soldiers ready to travel and fight. Henry embarked later than most soldiers in his battalion arriving to Morphetville a month later than most others.
 
Henry then travelled by boat with his battalion, arriving to their first stop of Colombo (June 26th, 1916) which was a pit stop on the way to their real destination of the Suez Canal in Egypt. When they left Colombia after only being there for a short time of 2 days, the 43rd battalion lost 3 soldiers to the illness of measles. This was the first recorded death for the battalion, it was a big eye opener to what these men including Henry had signed up for and it really prepared them for what was ahead as a battalion. In Egypt they had been continuing their training as a battalion, before they then embarked to France on the 25th of November 1916.
 
When they first arrived in France, they travelled to England to continue their training. Henry travelled back to France in November 1916, ready for action. This is where Henry was first hospitalized on the 8th of December 1916 in Steenwerck, France for dysentery. Dysentery is caught through bacteria, usually from contaminated food and water. This was a very common illness during the time of the war. It generally included stomach pain, cramps and diarrhoea. Henry was discharged that same night but then readmitted the next day (9th of December 1916) for the same illness. Henry was then discharged on the 15th of December and rejoined the battalion. On the days when Henry was hospitalized his battalion were still continuing with their training in Steenwerck France.
 
On the 23rd of December 1916 the battalion moved from Steenwerck to Armentieres a small town in France that had been in battle for several months prior Henry and the 43rd battalion’s arrival. This was the last recorded about Henry specifically until early 1918, but we can assume he travelled with the 43rd Infantry Battalion through 1917 assisting as a driver to their battles and training. He therefore would have fought at Messines and Broodseinde, and in August 1918 the battle of Amiens.
  
Months later on July 3rd, 1918 a letter was sent to the information bureau from a name that is unknown. It was not from Henrys mother nor his wife as he did not have one, we can assume it may have been a friend, relative or even a girlfriend. The letter asked for any information on Henry Alfred Weinert, she asked whether they knew any information about his death as she had heard from others he had been killed. However, she had not seen Henry's name in the papers under casualties, which made her worried and anxious as written in the letter.
On the 5th of July 1918 the information bureau responded to the letter of concern. The response stated that Henry was never reported a casualty, so they assume he is with his unit. We can then see that Henry was hospitalized a month later so we can confirm he was in fact alive when this was happening and of concern.
 
Then as mentioned on the 16th of August 1918 Henry was hospitalized for the illness of influenza in France. He was then back and forth from the hospital for almost 2 months because of influenza. For almost all of these 2 months his battalion were not fighting but training at their camp in France and England. On the 23rd of August, he was deemed invalid to travel to the U.K with his battalion. We can later see that he did meet back with the 43rd Infantry Battalion 4 days later (27th of August 1918) in the U.K but was hospitalized upon his arrival again for influenza in Dorchester, England. There is no discharge date so we can assume he stayed in hospital in Dorchester until leaving to return home to Australia.
 
Life After War:
Henry returned to Australia on the 18th of January 1919. Unfortunately, that was the last information on Henry Alfred Weinert after he returned from Europe back home to Australia. Henry was 32 turning 33 in just 13 days when he returned home. We can assume that he went back to his house in Swan Reach, South Australia but it is uncertain. Henry died in 1954 and is buried at Bowhill.