Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

CSM 1125 Harry Cleveland Goodsir
 
Today on the poppy fields of the Somme which undulate in silent and peaceful waves, stand in the cemeteries, the white cities, the thousands of graves under which rest in peace a whole generation of men who here, in the mud from the trenches and the blood of the battlefields, gave their youth and their lives for the peace for which they fought and for which they fell.United in the mateship, they served side by side with pride and conviction and gave all they had so that we could live, so that we could have a today, a future.They were young and brave and still rest united in the comradeship, in the friendship in which they lived and in which they will live forever on these soils of France for which they have done so much and which, with eternal gratitude, with respect and love will take care of them and with which we will keep alive the memory of these young boys so that they will live forever, so that they will never be forgotten.
Today, it is with the deepest respect and gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Company Sergeant Major number 1125 Harry Cleveland Goodsir who fought in the 35th Australian Infantry Battalion,9th Brigade,3rd Australian Division, and who was killed in action 103 years ago, on June 1, 1918 at the age of 26 on the Somme front.

Harry Cleveland (Mid) Goodsir was born on September 3, 1891 in Newcastle, New South Wales and was the second of four children of Port Stephens sawmill manager Reuben Goodsir and his wife Eliza Goodsir (née Aston). Harry was educated in Newcastle at the Hamilton Superior Public School and later moved to Toronto, on the shores of Lake Macquarie, where he became a member of the local Rifle Club and enjoyed playing football. Before the outbreak of the war, he worked as a sawmiller and lived in Brighton Avenue, Toronto, New South Wales.

Harry enlisted on January 14, 1916 in Newcastle, New South Wales, as a Private in the 36th Australian Infantry Battalion, D Company, and after a period of four months of training, he embarked with his unit from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A72 Beltana on May 13, 1916 and sailed for England where he was disembarked at Devonport on July 9, 1916 and received four additional months of intensive training.

On November 22, 1916, Harry embarked with his battalion from Southampton, England and proceeded overseas for France where he arrived the next day, on November 23 and moved into the trenches of the Western Front for the first time on December 4, just in time for the onset of the terrible winter of 1916-1917.

The battalion had to wait until the emphasis of British and Dominion operations switched to the Ypres Sector of Belgium in mid-1917 to take part in its first major battle, the battle of Messines, launched on June 7 and where Harry fought with great courage and was promoted to the rank of Corporal on June 12, 1917, then to the rank of Temporary Sergeant on the same day.

A month later, on July 11, 1917, Harry was wounded to his ankle then reverted to the rank of Corporal the same day and admitted to the 11th Australian Field Ambulance on July 27. His injury was not too serious, he recovered quickly and was sent back to Belgium alongside his comrades of the 36th Australian Infantry Battalion on August 7 and was promoted the same day to the rank of Sergeant. Two months later,on October 4, 1917 Harry fought at Broodseinde Ridge and then at Passchendaele on October 12 and the following month,on November 8, for his bravery he was promoted to the rank of Temporary Company Sergeant Major and on November 19 he was granted three weeks leave in England and joined his unit in Belgium on December 4, 1917 and promoted to the rank of Company Sergeant Major on February 5, 1918.

at the end of February, more precisely on February 28, 1918, for his bravery on the battlefield, Harry was recommended for the DCM (Distinguished Conduct Medal).His commanding officer stated:
"This N.C.O.(Non Commissioned Officer) has at all times shown great devotion to duty and keenness in his work both when in the trenches and billets.When in action his coolness and cheeriness has inspired all ranks with the utmost confidence.His courage has been frequently in evidence and has been reflected in the morale of the men under his control."

Two months later, On April 30, 1918 the 36th Australian Infantry Battalion was disbanded in order to reinforce other 9th Brigade units, and Harry was transferred to the 35th Australian Infantry Battalion and fought in the Somme where, unfortunately, two months later, on June 1, 1918 , he met his fate.

Very early in the morning of June 1, 1918, the 35th Battalion was engaged near Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, when Harry was mortally wounded. According to Commanding Officer of the 35th Battalion, Lieutenant Turnbull, Harry sustained:
"Severe wounds on upper part of body and head caused by enemy grenade explosion, while occupying a front line position. Death was instantaneous, occurring in the early morning of June 1.The burial was conducted on June 2, 1918 at the Chalk Pitt Cemetery, Captain Chaplain Osborne, 35th Battalion officiating.".

Company Sergeant Major Harry Cleveland Goodsir was later re-buried and today he rests in peace with his men, friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Villers-Bretonneux Military cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "In memory of the loved son of R. and E. Goodsir of Newcastle".

Harry was awarded a Mentioned in Despatches honour promulgated in the London Gazette on May 28, 1918, and the Commonwealth Gazette on October 24, 1918.
In 1920 Harry’s family left the Newcastle district for Mullumbimby where they ran the local newsagency. In 1925 they relocated to Orange where Reuben became the well known operator of the newsagency and stationers located in Summer Street opposite the Strand Theatre.

Harry Cleveland Goodsir is commemorated on the Toronto Soldiers' Memorial, the Toronto Red Cross Honour Roll, the Hamilton Superior Public School Roll Of Honor, the Booral and District Honour Roll and on panel number 125 on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

He is also remembered on a commemorative plaque in Sandgate Memorial Cemetery in Newcastle and on his mother Eliza’s headstone in Orange Cemetery, Presbyterian Section, Block 8 22.
Harry had a brother who also served during the war, Private number 505 James Roy Goodsir who enlisted on September 9, 1914 in the 13th Australian Infantry Battalion and was invalided home in August 1915. James Roy Goodsir died on November 1, 1926 at the age 31 and rest in peace in Orange Cemetery, New South Wales.

Harry, you who fought with determination and courage alongside your men and your brothers in arms for your country, in the name of freedom and peace on the soils of Belgium and France, on the lands of Remembrance of the Sum on which you gave your life, I would like today, from the bottom of my heart and with gratitude to say thank you for all that you have done for us and for all that we are today thanks to you, for the peace in which we live thanks to your courage and your sacrifice as well as those who served and fought by your side and who rest in peace by your side in the cemeteries and the poppy fields of the Somme which was, there over a hundred years ago, fields of death red with blood spilled by a whole generation of young men who fought and fell in the trenches, in courageous and murderous assaults, under the fire of the machine guns and the cannons which every day, hour after hour, poured death and destruction on the fields of mud scarified by kilometers of lines of barbed wire in which killed each other and fell millions of men who, with courage and resolution, gave their youth, men who were all volunteers and who together, shared the joys and sorrows, the sufferings and the weight of the horrors that they endured without ever complaining and without ever backing down, they were proud to fight among their friends and brothers and found in each other, the strength and courage to stand, to hold their heads high and heart steadfast to face downpours of shells and bullets.Brave and determined, they found in the camaraderie that united them, the courage to move forward and under storms of fire and screaming metal, they kept their splendid sense of humor, their smiles on their young faces blackened with mud and blood, they showed the determination of a whole young generation, of a whole nation which, in France, made and gave so much battle after battle.One step after another, they fought with force but the price was high, they paid for each trenches conquered in blood and tears, they saw their friends, their men, their fathers, their brothers who fell, mown down by the machine guns, pulverized by the shells, poisoned by the gas and one after the other, they lay down in the red fields of poppies, in the eternal shroud of their Remembrance on which soon grew fields of wooden crosses, symbol of a generation lost to which we owe so much and who, despite what they went through, never stopped fighting, always with hopes and convictions, they never ceased to move forward through blood and mud.Officers and soldiers, men above all, fought and lived side by side, all were heroes, exceptional men who answered to the call of duty to put an end to all wars, for peace and freedom, a precious legacy that they transmitted to us and for which they gave their lives, we carry the torch of their remembrance, united around them to remember them and to honor them, to tell them that they are not and that they will never be forgotten. I would always watch over them, walking in their footsteps through the rows of their white tombs and old battlefields to know who they were and learn from them to pass on and share the stories of these men, of these heroes, of my boys of the Somme to bring them back to life and light up their lives so that they will live forever.Thank you so much Harry,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.