Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Herbert John EATON # 1828 42nd Battalion

Herb Eaton was born at South Pine (Strathpine) to George and Hannah Eaton. By the time that Herb was old enough to attend school, the family had moved to Stoney Creek, Woodford where Herb attended Durunder Provisional School.

When Herb presented himself for enlistment at the recruiting depot in Adelaide Street in Brisbane on 16th December 1915 he was 26 years old and single. Herb reported his occupation as teamster and the medical report compiled by the recruiting officer gave his height as 6’3”.


Herb would spend some time in camp at Enoggera before finally being allocated as part of the 2nd reinforcements for the 42nd Battalion. The 42nd was part of the 11th Brigade of the 3rd Division. The entire division under Major General John Monash was in training in England for most of 1916. Herb boarded the “Boorara” in Brisbane on 16th August and arrived in Plymouth in October.

The bulk of the 3rd Division which included the 42nd Battalion were earmarked for deployment to the Western Front in November 1916 but Herb, as a newly arrived recruit remained in England at Perham Downs in the 11th Training Battalion. He eventually was taken by the 42nd in the field in the Armentieres sector in February 1917.

The 3rd Division saw its first major action of the war at Messines in June, followed by Warneton in July. Messines and Warneton were preliminary assaults in what was to become the Battle of Passchendaele, to remove enemy observers from high ground. The 11th Brigade was withdrawn from the line to prepare for a major assault at Zonnebeke on the Broodseinde Ridge in October 1917.

On the morning of October 4th, the 11th Brigade with the 10th Brigade on one side and the two Queensland Battalions, 25th and 26th, on the other moved forward under a creeping artillery barrage. Although the going was tough across the muddy ground, all objectives were reached but at considerable cost. The 42nd Battalion War Diary records battle casualties of 250.

One of the wounded was Herb Eaton. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen. In spite of being transferred to a casualty clearing station at Poperinghe that day, Herb died of his wounds on 4th October 1917. Like so many other casualties of the Flanders campaign, he was buried in a Military Cemetery adjacent to the CCS at Nine Elms.