Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Henry Arthur Talbot enlisted to WW1 as a private and served from 1915-1918. Henry Arthur was born in Tantanoola, South Australia in 1890. His mother, Elizabeth Louisa Talbot was his  nominated next-of-kin, his father was unknown. Henry Arthur attended school at Tantanoola Public School. Before enlistment, Henry Arthur worked as a labourer. Henry Arthur was also a part of the Tantanoola Rifle Club prior to enlistment. 

On the 14th of June 1915, Henry Arthur enlisted to the Australian Armed Forces with the 48th Battalion in Keswick, South Australia when he was 24 years old. Henry Arthur embarked to Egypt aboard the HMAT Ballarat A70 for training on the 14th of September 1915. On November 4th, 1915, Henry arrived in Egypt for training.

Henry Arthur arrived in Gallipoli 13th of November 1915. On the 31st of December 1915, Henry Arthur disembarked to Alexandria, Egypt for further training. During this time Henry focused on artillery warfare, grenade throwing, Lewis gunning and signal/telephone operations. War artist George Lambert described the Moascar Isolation camp (one of the camps) as being: ‘Miles and miles of tents and desert, thousands of sweating, sun-bronzed men and beautiful horses.’ On the third of March 1916, Henry travelled across Egypt to Kebir with the 48th Battalion for further expansion and reorganisation of the Australian Imperial Force.

June 1st 1916, Henry arrived in Alexandria via railway with the 48th Battalion on their way to board the troopship Caledonia which sailed to France 2 days later. On the 9th of June 1916, the ship arrived in France but on this date, Henry became sick with Furuncolosis and was transported to a hospital in Etaples. Furuncolosis is a highly painful infection of a hair follicle leading to abscess formation with accumulation of pus and necrotic tissue. It is highly likely Henry had gotten Furuncolosis during the ship ride as it is highly contagious through things such as clothing, towels or bedding. On the 4th of July, 1916 doctors noticed Henry had a septic knee, a bacterial infection.

Finally, on the 13th of August 1916, after over 2 months in hospital, Henry re-joined the 48th Battalion to fight along the Western Front in the battle of Pozieres. The Battalion took a highly defensive role in Mouquet farm to prevent any enemy breakthroughs. In Mouquet Farm, Henry served as a Lewis gunner, something Henry had trained in Alexandria. 

On the 11th April 1917, in Bullecourt while serving in the battle of Arras, Henry carried ammunition and bombs from the advanced battalion dump to the front line through heavy enemy barrage of artillery and machine guns and got sniped at on the way. For this and along with other work, Henry was promoted to Corporal on the 26th August 1917. On the 4th of October 1917, Henry received a military for what he had done in Bullecourt. Henry received this medal for his bravery in that act and because Henry had embraced the ANZAC spirit.

On the 12th of October 1917, Henry was wounded in action while fighting in the battle of Passchendaele. On the 16th of October, Henry arrived in hospital in England for his wounding in Passchendaele.  On the 26th of November, Henry transferred to a hospital in Dartford England. On the 28th of November, henry was once again transferred to another hospital, this time a hospital in Heathcourt. On the 16th of May 1918, Henry arrived in a hospital in Deverill. On the 22nd of June 1918, Henry finally re-joined the 48th Battalion after almost 8 long months in hospital for his wounding in Passchendaele.

Tragically Henry was killed in action on the 8th of August 1918 and pronounced dead after he was reported being missing. Henry died in the battle of Amiens with the 48th Battalion.

For Henry's service in war, he had received 4 medals. The 1914-15 star for serving in a battle from 1914-15, the British war medal and the Victory medal for serving in the armed forces during WW1, and finally his military medal for bravery in service for Henrys act in Bullecourt. Henry was buried at Heath cemetery in Harbonnieres, France (Plot III, Row H, Grave No. II).

Bibliography

Reference list

harbon, miller (1914). TALBOT Henry Arthur : Service Number - 3040 : Place of Birth - Tantanoola SA : Place of Enlistment - Keswick SA : Next of Kin - (Mother) TALBOT Elizabeth Louisa. [online] National Archives of Australia. Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8098074&S=1 [Accessed 11 Apr. 2024].

houston, william (2020). 10th Battalion (Australia). [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_Battalion_(Australia).

parker, maestro (2022). 48th Battalion (Australia). [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/48th_Battalion_(Australia).

scheme =AGLSTERMS. AglsAgent; corporateName=Commonwealth of Australia, D. of D. address=Russell O. (2021). title | 1914-1915 Star | ADF Members & Families | DPG | Honours & Awards | Department of Defence. [online] www.defence.gov.au. Available at: https://www.defence.gov.au/adf-members-families/honours-awards/medals/imperial-awards/world-war-one/1914-1915-star.

smith, james (2024). WW1. [online] Adfa.edu.au. Available at: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=294423&printFormat=print [Accessed 11 Apr. 2024].

taurean, prince (2019). Expansion and re-organisation of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in Egypt. [online] www.awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E84708.

vwma.org.au. (n.d.). Henry Arthur TALBOT MM. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/179695.

Wikipedia Contributors (2019a). Battle of Passchendaele. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele.

Wikipedia Contributors (2019b). Gallipoli Campaign. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign.

Wikipedia Contributors (2020). Battle of Pozières. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pozi%C3%A8res.