Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Henry "Harry" PUNSHON was born in 1880 in St. Arnaud, Victoria, Australia, the eighth of eleven children born to parents Ellen (née WILLIAMS) and John George PUNSHON.  Harry married Ethel Maie KELLY in Perth, Western Australia, in 1916.

A 37 year old miner living in Kalgoorlie Western Australia at the time, Harry enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in Kalgoorlie on 10th April 1917.  He was assigned as a Trooper, regimental number 3614, and allocated to the Camel Corps.  Following completion of his recruit training at Claremont Military Camp, Harry embarked in Fremantle aboard HMAT "Port Lincoln" (A17) on 30th June 1917, for active service overseas.

Arriving in Suez, Egypt, on 6th August 1917, Harry was taken on strength with the ANZAC Reserve.  He was allocated to the 17th Company of the 4th ANZAC Battalion, Imperial Camel Brigade, in Abbassia, on 6th October.  The Brigade were part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, serving in the Sinai - Palestine campaign.

On 3rd December 1917, Harry was part of a raiding party from the 17th Company that consisted of 6 Officers and 100 Other Ranks, who were to go on a reconnaissance tasking at Bald Hill, in Palestine.  Their mission was to ascertain the enemy strength, their state of defence, and the location of any observation posts on the forward slope and summit of the hill.  It was expected that this could be accomplished within a 10 minute period in the enemy's location.

Pages 3 and 4 of the Unit War Diary for this date show that things didn't go to plan...

"The party left the Number 9 post which was held by 3rd Battalion at 1940, and moved up a nullah to within about 300 yards of the position and halted.  At 1955 the Artillery barrage opened which was the signal for the party to move forward, which they did having been organised into three waves.  When we were within about 50 yards of where the enemy trenches were supposed to be, we were met with a shower of bombs which had been thrown by men concealed in shallow holes and quite hidden by the long grass.  These were responsible for a large percentage of our casualties.  

As far as can be discovered none of these men escaped, all of them being killed in their hiding places.  Simultaneously with the bursting of these bombs, enemy artillery opened up a heavy fire with H.E. and shrapnel and machine guns.  Through a miscalculation, the main point of the raid came in contact with the enemy position about fifty yards east of the point aimed at, with the result that the left flank did not receive the benefit of the covering fire from our own machine and Lewis guns.  

Eventually all objectives were gained, but the covering fire from the 3rd Battalion posts opened before all the wounded were got away, but no further casualties resulted from this fire.  All wounded had been got back to our dressing station by 2140, one man who had been killed was left behind.  All cases were dressed and despatched to Field Ambulance by 0200.

Our casualties were:  

Wounded    4 Officers     33 Other Ranks

Killed                             2 Other Ranks   "                               

Harry was one of those Other Ranks who were wounded in action during this raid, sustaining a severe shrapnel wound to his right thigh which resulted in a compound fracture of his right femur.  He was evacuated from the Dressing Station to the Field Ambulance, and subsequently admitted to the 14th Australian General Hospital in Abbassia on 12th December, at which time he was described as being "dangerously wounded".  As a result of him developing pyaemia (a sepsis like infection that spreads throughout the organs) in the following months, his right leg was amputated on 25th February 1918, at the 31st General Hospital in Abbassia.  Sadly, Harry passed away later the same day.

Trooper Harry PUNSHON died of his wounds in the 31st General Hospital in Abbassia, Cairo, Egypt, on 25th February 1918.  He was 38 years old.  Following a funeral service conducted by Reverend Edmund R. Lockyer MiD, Senior Chaplain to the Forces, Harry was buried on the same day he died, in the War Memorial Cemetery, Cairo, Egypt.

On the anniversary of his death for the next four years, his wife would insert memorial tributes to Harry in the Family Notices of the Kalgoorlie local newspapers.  One of which reads:

"The midnight stars are shining on a grave I cannot see, Where sleeping without dreaming, lies one so dear to me ".

Lest we forget...

Compiled by Karan CAMPBELL-DAVIS from historical records held by the National Archives of Australia (Service Record);  the Australian War Memorial (4th ANZAC Bn I.C.C. Unit War Diaries);  Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria;  Ancestry;  and various newspaper articles on Trove.