HOOK, Harold John Thomas
| Service Number: | 1712 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 May 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glebe, New South Wales, Australia, 3 October 1891 |
| Home Town: | Glebe, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Glebe Superior Public School & Forest Lodge Public School, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Electrician |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 6 May 1916, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
Brewery Orchard Cemetery, Bois-Grenier Plot 1V, Row C, Grave 25. Headstone inscription reads: Greater love hath no man than this |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Chippendale Substation Staff NSW Govt. Tramways Honour Roll, Glebe War Memorial, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Haymarket Substation Staff of NSW Government Tramways Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 26 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1712, 20th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 1712, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Kanowna embarkation_ship_number: A61 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 1712, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kanowna, Sydney | |
| 28 Oct 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 1712, 20th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Bomb wounds to the face | |
| 6 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 1712, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1712 awm_unit: X2A Australian Medium Trench Mortar Battery awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-05-06 |
Help us honour Harold John Thomas Hook's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of Augustus Hook and Ellen Agnes Cook of 'Phyliss', Wade Street, Campsie, NSW
Medals: 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Harold John Thomas HOOK (Service Number 1712) was born on 3rd October 1891 at Glebe. He commenced working for the NSW Tramways as a switcher in the Electrical Branch at Sydney on 1st February 1909 when he was just 17-years-old. A year later he became an electrical junior, at first in the City, but in 1911 at Newtown, and in 1912 at Central Sub-station. Not long after that appointment he became a battery attendant, and then an assistant in the sub-station and a dynamo attendant in November 1913. It was from this position that he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 29tn May 1915.
Hook enlisted at Liverpool two days later. Being unmarried, he gave his mother living in Campsie as his next of kin. He gave his ‘calling’ as ‘electrician’. He left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Kanowna’ on 19th June 1916, allotted to the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion. He was quickly transported to Gallipoli where he arrived on 16th August 1915. He became quite ill with dysentery and was transferred to the hospital at Gallipoli, then Mudros (on the Greek island of Lemnos), Alexandria (Egypt), Heliopolis(Egypt), Abbassia (Egypt), and Zeitoun Convalescent Depot (Egypt). He was discharged as fit on 6th October 1915 and returned to Gallipoli on 25th October. After only three days he was wounded with bomb wounds to his face, although it appears that he stayed with his unit after treatment at the 5th Field Ambulance.
At the end of the Gallipoli Campaign he was evacuated to Mudros and from there to Alexandria, arriving on 9th January 1916. He went Absent Without Leave for two days in January, for which he was admonished and forfeited pay for the time of absence. On 18th March 1916 he embarked at Alexandria for France. After reaching the Western Front via Marseilles, he was transferred to the 2nd Division Artillery, specifically the X2A Battery of Trench Mortars, on 9th April.
He was killed in action on 6th May 1916, and buried at Brewery Orchard, Bois-Grenier, France.
His mother was granted a pension of 22/- per fortnight from 23rd April 1917.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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