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This biography has been quoted from Harding, Ross (1992). From the Axe and the Brue. Canberra: Lutheran Publishing House, pp. 64-94.

In "From the Axe and the Brue’, a Harding Family History, the biography of Henry Elliot Harding is told, explaining how he served Australia in World War One:

“Henry Elliott, known as Bob, was home helping his father and breaking in horses in his local area of Black Rock when the war began in August, 1914.

He was just nineteen years old, with the excitement of youth, the exhortations of the government and the permission of his father, he presented himself at the exhibition camp on 21 July, 1915 to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. His background of horsemanship was allotted regimental number 1455 and posted to the base light horse unit.

On 16th August, 1915 he was taken on strength of the 18th reinforcements of the 3rd Light Horse Regiment (/3 LHR) but eight days later was reposted to the 11th Reinforcement- in effect he was competent to move earlier than the soldiers of the 18th.

By 27 October, 1915 Convey 13 had assembled for sailing to the middle east and included in it was Benalla of 11,118 tons. That day at Outer Harbor, Trooper Harding embarked on Benalla with 982 other men and officers before sailing for Fremantle. Unlike the policy that prevailed with the earlier convoys, general leave was granted when Benalla reached Fremantle on 1 November. No doubt Bob took advantage of this.

When his ship sailed again the next day thirty soldiers were missing but another 417 officers and men had embarked. Generally, the voyage was uneventful and Bob escaped the severe influenza that affected a number of passengers during transit of the Indian Ocean. Suez appeared on 24 November and Bob disembarked with those going to 3 LHR which they reached on 29th December after passing through a number of staging places. The regiment was at Heliopolis just outside Cairo where it had been about nine days following its evacuation from Gallipoli. 

A few weeks earlier, Arabs under the leadership of Sayed Ahmed, the Sheikh El Senussi, began attacking a number of outposts along the western coastline of Egypt. A ‘Western Frontier Force’ was hastily improvised by using some of the few troops then in Egypt. As the evacuation in Gallipoli made other soldiers available, a number of Australian were allotted to the Force. With no time to settle in to his unit Bob was riding out with it 9.00 the morning after he and his group arrived. For the next five days they rode west to reach Bir Hooker, about 40 miles north-west of Cairo on 3rd January, 1916 where 3 LHR was attached to the British army’s 153rd Brigade. Bob was a member of C squadron which split off from the regiment to operate in the vicinity of Lake Beida, patrolling and sinking wells- apparently a perennial chore.

On 21 January they rejoined the regiment then at EL Gaar but, except for having to also erect barbed wire entanglements, the tasks were the same. Bob then succumbed to an attack of mumps and was admitted to the 1st Light Horse Ambulance detachment which passed him on to the 3rd Welsh field ambulance on February 5. Treatment there restored him so on the 19th he rejoined his regiment, still at EL Gaar. This relatively minor action against the Senussi continued until early March, 1916. By 7th March the regiment had moved east to Khataba where two days later in three separate trains, it went on to Girga. For the next two months it was based there with individual squadrons moving out for short term garrison duty. From there on 16 May the regiment entrained for Kantaria in the Suez Canal. Ten days later they reached Romani, some twenty miles east of the canal.

A new element to their operations was abruptly introduced when on 1 June at 6.30am an enemy aircraft flew over their camp and dropped eight bombs from about 8000 feet. Most of the bombs fell among the tents and horse lines killing five men and thirty-six horses. As this was their first experience of bombing, those horses able to move immediately stampeded and scattered over sandhills. Some of them reached port nearly thirty miles away -some were never recovered. After that, June continued relatively quietly except for Bob who, on the 9th accidently shot himself in the left foot putting him back in the 1st Light Horse Field Ambulance. Next day he was sent to the Casualty Clearing Station at Kantara and then put on aboard the Hospital Ship, Niagara. A later move had him in the 31st (British) General Hospital at Port Said but that was only until 20th June when he was admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital in Cairo. Four days later he left Alexandria on the New Zealand hospital ship “Maheno” of 5282 tons. Bob was sent to the 3rd General Hospital at Wandsworth, London where he was admitted on 3 July. 

Bob's treatment extended until 18th September, 1916 when he finally sent to the No. 1 command Depot at Perham in Hampshire where he was granted furlough until 5 October. A week later again return he went to no.3 command depot at Bovington camp in Dorset but then was only until 3rd November when he was moved yet again to no.4 command depot at Wareham, also in Dorset. Evidently Bob decided that he had endured enough of this and went absent without leave.

After five days he was apprehended and put into detention until his charge was heard. He was found guilty and awarded 48 hours detention and forfeiture of ten days pay but, as he had already been in custody for three days, he was immediately released. After that incident he was made ready to be returned to his Regiment and New Year’s Day went to the Infantry Draft Depot at Perham. Ten days later he shifted into No.7 Australian Camp Details, a holding unit that arranged for him to embark on 3rd March, 1917 on “Transylvania,'' a ship of 14,500 tons. From this he disembarked at Alexandria on 16 March and went the next day into No.2 Isolation Camp at Moascar although no reason for this is known. To prepare him again for active service he spent from 10 April to 2 May into the 1st Light Horse Training Regiment also at Moascar. 

That day he rejoined his regiment then at Shellal where it was conducting reconnaissance duties for 74th (British) Division. Constant patrolling and standing from 3.15 to 8.00 each morning continued until 22 May when the regiment rode out to raid the Turkish railway between Auja and Beersheba. Next morning at 4.45 they carried out their task of demolishing large sections of railway against light opposition and were back in their own line by midnight. Normal patrolling resumed until 30 May when the regiment marched to Abasab el Keuir and the nearby Ordnance Depot at Khan Yunus. This was to enable their rifles and bayonets to be exchanged for newer models. Many soldiers were also given six days leave in Cairo but there is no record of Bob being among them. In any case the remainder of the regiment was able to rest and to swim in the sea. Some training and parade for the French General Balloud was also carried out. Although there was another move, this time to Marakeb, the relaxed routine and swimming continued until 3 July when the whole of the 1st Light Horse Brigade rode to Sha’uth. 

Once more regiments were in action, first with patrolling and skirmishes against Turkish outposts. Some of the later raids were on a large scale and involved the entire Regiment as well as other units. Such a one was a successful attack on El Ghabi at 3.45am on 8 July when the regiment held its position until relieved by the Auckland Mounted Rifles on the 14th allowing 3 LHR to establish itself once more at Sha’uth.  More patrols and skirmishes were the pattern until 7 August, 1917 when Bob went back to the rest camp at Marakeb. By the 18th the regiment had also moved there for another period of recreation, training and leave. For the end and most importantly, for their horses, this was all part of a careful programme to have them all fit and ready for the coming major campaign being organised by the Commander-in-Chief, General Allenby.

Despite the relatively benign conditions Bob became ill on 27 September with pyrexia--a fever--and was sent to Anzac Receiving Station, the Medical Centre within the Anzac Mounted Division. By 4 October he had recovered and returned and returned to his regiment which, in the meantime, had moved to another camp but was still on the beach. This pleasant state continued until 24th when the preliminary moves for the approaching battle began. as part of the 1st Light Horse Brigade, for the next six days the regiment deployed into its assault positions near Beersheba to maintain surprise most of the moving was done at night with its consequent tiring of the men. However, men and animals were in fine fettle and spirits were high. 

Just as the battle for Beersheba began to develop on 30 October, Bob was suffering from appendicitis and the next day was evacuated to Australian mounted division station. On the following day he went by hospital train to the 65th Casualty station and then by 4 November, to the 43rd stationary hospital. Two days later he was in the 44th stationary hospital at Kantura but on the 7th admitted to the 14th Australian General Hospital (AGH), a 610 – bed unit in the Abbassia Barracks in a Cairo suburb after his recovery he spent from 4 to 11 December in a convalescent depot from which he was moved to the signal training unit at Moascar. There he remained until 24 April, 1918 when he rejoined his regiment.

When Bob arrived among his companions on 28th April, 3 LHR had been in the Jordan Valley for nearly a month. It was an area notorious for its virulent strain of malaria and, within two days, Bob became a victim of it. Again, he passed through the well-practiced medical evacuation system and by 5 May 1918 was back in 14 AGH which had moved to Port Said in December 1917. Here he remained until 31 May when he was well enough to go back to the Desert Mounted Corps rest camp, also near Port Said. Within a week he was back in 14 AGH and there he stayed until 1 July when he returned to the Rest Camp. After ten days he travelled once more to Signals Training Unit at Moascar where he remained until 19 September. He was back with his regiment on 1 October just as it was about to move from Kalaat ez Zerka to Ammam. As Bob's regiment rode south on 2 October, Lieutenant General Chavuel was entering Damascus at the head of a large part of this Desert Mounted Column to signify the complete defeat of the Turkish forces facing them. This did not of course, lessen the work to be done but radically changed its character. Next day the Regiment moved south 18 miles to Ziza and began the onerous, and sometimes unpleasant, task of administering the Turkish prisoners, including their sick and wounded and sorting captured war material. By the 6th, all had moved to Kissir just south of Amman where mail, canteen stores and Comforts Fund parcels were distributed to the unit. Unfortunately, at the same time a severe outbreak of influenza occurred and, in four days, the strength of the regiment went down from its normal complement of about 25 officers and 497 other ranks to 18 officers and 183 men. 

So depleted was the Regiment that, when it moved to Ain Harmmar on 11 October each man in the saddle had led three other horses. For the next two months they carried on with a routine of administration, training, sport, guards, leave and preparations for a race meeting. No doubt the news of the Armistice on 11 November and its celebrations varied that routine considerably. Then on 18 December the regiment began to move south through Gaza to reach Rafa on the 22nd. The routine resumed except the educational lectures became a notable and useful addition. A major change in the Regiment occurred on 10 and 11 February 1919 when all their saddlery and ammunition was returned to ordnance. Next day a cryptic and chilling entry in the unit noted that all C and D class horses were destroyed. The full, awful and emotional impact of that statement can only be guessed. Then a measles outbreak put much of the Regiment into isolation but gradually the routine returned to training, sport and education classes enlivened with a concert party.

At this juncture there broke out in Egypt a rebellion that began as a student demonstration in Cairo with rioting spreading quickly through the lower provinces of Egypt. Orders for the regiment had it moved by train for Rafa to Kantara early in the morning of 25 march. At Kantara equipment, weapons and ammunition were drawn and, until 7 April, 3 LHR was reinforced and trained. At 6.30 on the morning of the 7th the Regiment entrained for Cairo thence marched to Gherzereh, eleven other regiments were involved and within a mouth, after a few sharp decisive brushes with the rioters, the danger had passed. Indeed, a large party from the Regiment attended an ANZAC Day Memorial Service in the All Saints Church in Cairo. Thereafter some training and the inevitable guard duty was inserted into a situation of comfortable billets, abundant food and several pleasant weeks by the Nile.

Bob finally embarked at Kantara on 16 May 1919. His ship was the ‘Orari’ of 9,179 tons and he disembarked from it in Adelaide on 26 June. Although not a fast voyage, it was, without doubt, an exciting one as he anticipated his homecoming and the country that he had sailed from over 3 ½ very crowded years before.

 After his discharge from the AIF on 19 August 1919 Bob decided to establish himself as a market gardener and went to live at Campbelltown. On 9 December 1919 he purchased part of two allotments in the new area of Marden West (now Marden) and grew vegetables.

One of the experiences of his time in the Army came back to bother him greatly as he began to suffer from recurring attacks of Malaria. These became serious enough to interfere with his work and eventually forced him into giving up his gardening. Preference in employment for ‘returned’ soldiers was the rule in the post-war years so Bob sought a paid job in the Adelaide area. On 24 November 1921 he began as a Conductor (Connie) with the Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT), Adelaide.

About this time, he became friendly with Eveline Ivy May (Eveline) WORTLEY, the elder of the two children of George Israel and Julia Davis WORTLEY (nee CAIN). Eveline was born on 30 July 1903 at Campbelltown where her father was also a market gardener. She had been baptized at the Campbelltown Methodist Church and attended the Campbelltown Public School with its 93 pupils from about 1908 to 1915 after which she remained at home to help her parents. Eveline had a good voice and became a member of the Sable Grivel Choral Society, a private but well-known group of singers organised by a Mr Grivel.

Henry Elliott HARDING and Eveline Ivy May WORTLEY were married on 4 February 1922 at the Campbelltown Methodist Church by the Rev. William F. Mortimer. They established their home at 50 West Terrace, Kensington Gardens where they remained for all of their married life. Their two daughters were born there, Marvis Evelyn in 1923 and Joan in 1925. It was a very different life from that which Bob had been used to when working for himself. A conductor’s time was punctuated by ‘cautions’ delivered to him by the Traffic Inspectors for missing a fare, usually between a penny and three pence ($0.60 and $2.00), or failing to punch a season ticket. At less frequent intervals a reward would be given for such actions as finding a passenger’s wallet or other items. Bob received a number of such rewards, usually about today’s equivalent of $20.00.

On 5 September Bob was promoted to Relieving Motorman, that is a driver, and a week later this was made permanent. This position also had its minor hazards, and cautions were issued for such errors as incorrect destination sign and mishandling of the controls. Some hazards were less minor and these included the usual and almost inevitable accidents with fingers and feet. Bob had his share of these but in all of his years of working for the Trust he was involved in only one traffic accident by which time he had become a Conductor again. On 13 September 1943 near Victoria Park Racecourse during the late afternoon rush hour his tram was struck by another. Many passengers in that very crowded tram were thrown about and bruised but only two passengers had to be treated in hospital. Bob injured his elbow and was struck on the head. Although also shocked, after treatment he was not admitted to hospital. His earlier reversion to Conductor resulted from him having been found guilty on 12 June 1940 of a major infringement of regulations. Because of certain special, but unspecified circumstances, his dismissal from the Trust, which accompanied the finding, was put aside and he was reinstated the same day without loss of seniority although as a Conductor rather than as a Motorman.

Life with the Trust was not just a daily grind as there were well developed social and sporting organisations within it. A magazine titled ‘Among Ourselves’ was produced for the entertainment of the staff and for the dissemination of semi-official and social and sporting information. Having been a sprinter Bob was active in their athletic endeavours as a coach for the Tramway’s team.

Eveline suffered from kidney problems and became partially bed-ridden. As Bob approached his 60th birthday, caring for her became a major consideration in fixing a retirement date. So it was that Bob finally left the Trust on 15 October 1955 to help Eveline at home. Unfortunately, it was not enough to halt Eveline’s deterioration and eight months later she died on 26 June 1956 at home. She was buried at Centennial Park Cemetery by Rev. F.J. Barnes.”

Bob continued living in his home until the next year when he travelled to New Guinea to stay with his daughter, Joan (Mrs Barnes) who was then living with her family in Lae. From there he applied for a job with the Delta Construction Co. in Port Moresby. That bridge building and construction firm was then located at a site called 4-mile Camp and Bob remained with them until 1965. Accommodation was available in the 4-mile Social Club and Bob lived there until he returned to Australia to live with Mavis (Mrs Dobner) and her family in Denning St, Hawthorne. From about 1966 he lived in the War Veterans’ Home in Ferguson Ave, Myrtle Bank but was admitted to the Repatriation General Hospital, Daws Rd, Daw Park where, next day on 3 May 1968, he died and was buried with Eveline in Centennial Park Cemetery.” (General A, Path 19, Grave 311A).