Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Horace Percy Branford was born on November 1887 in Laura, South Australia. He worked as a brickmaker before enlistment. His parents were Elijah Branford and Elizabeth Ann Branford, and he had an uncle called Robert Alfred French. His father was his next of kin. He had two sisters, called Polly Anderson and Olive Korte. He also had a brother called Alfred James Branford, who was killed in France on July 7th, 1918. He was killed in action by a bolting horse at the age of 27. Horace’s marital status was widower and he had three children, one boy and two girls called Eric, Dulcie, and Lil. His religion was the Church of England.

He enlisted at the age of 28 at Keswick, South Australia on 2nd of February 1915. Horace was in the 27th Battalion, in the 7th Brigade. A lot of 27th Battalion’s soldiers all were from Adelaide. The battalion boarded the ship, HMAT A2 Geelong on 31st of May 1915 to go to Egypt for training.

After two months of training, the 27th Battalion landed on Gallipoli on 12th of September 1915 to reinforce the Australian and New Zealand Division. They disembarked from SS “Partridge” and “Prince Abbas”, and proceeded to march to Taylor’s Hollow. ANZACS would work on sniping and observing, and deepening and improving the trenches. The ANZACS also observed that the enemy would do short, bursts of machine gun fire. Then, they took over the Upper Cheshire ridge from New Zealand Mounted Rifles brigade (NZMR). He was reprimanded for insubordination on 30th of September 1915. On the 10th of November 1915, the 27th Battalion was relieved by the Canterbury battalion. During their time on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the battalion worked on the Chateau Ridge line, and experienced some rainfall, from 9mm to 11mm. The 27th battalion only suffered minor casualties, and departed Gallipoli Peninsula in December 1915.

On 6th of January of 1916, the 7th Brigade left Mudros, Greece, and embarked on the ship, SS Minnewaska to go to Tell El Kebir, Egypt, for camp. They arrived at camp on the 10th of January, and continued training until on 2nd of February 1916 received orders to go to Ismailia for Canal Defences. They arrived at Ismailia on the 9th of February, and were stationed at the Ferry Post. The 7th Brigade left Ismailia at the end of March, and joined the 2nd Australian Division to Morbecque, France.

For the first time on 7th of April 1916, the 27th Battalion entered the front-line trenches, and from 28 July to 5 August, the Battalion took part in their first major battle in Pozieres. At first, the 1st Australian Division was successful in securing Pozieres, however because of the German’s non-stop artillery fire and counterattacks, they suffered greatly and had to be relieved by the 2nd Australian Division. On the 28th of July 1916, 7th Brigade attempted to attack Bapaume-Albert road. There was not much action needed from the 27th Battalion, only to be in reserve in Sausage Valley and provide all necessary carrying out parties. The 2nd Australian Division launched two main attacks on the Germans in Pozieres, however both failed and cost them a total of 6, 848 casualties. The first attack was on the 29th of July, and they would attack the North of Pozieres at night. The second attack was on the 2nd of August, and resulted in the Germans losing more positions beyond the village. Even though it was a success, the ANZACS lost a lot of soldiers to keep a small piece of land. During September 1916, it was relatively quiet for the 27th Battalion, and they carried on with training and other activities.

After going to Ypres, Belgium, in October 1916, the 2nd Australian division (including the 7th Brigade) returned to France. The 7th Brigade took part in the Battle of Flers in the Somme Valley, where they had to travel through a series of complex trenches, called the “Maze”. They managed to capture some of their objectives, however because of the strong German resistance, they had to withdraw. In the morning of November 17th, 1916, they launched an attack on the Maze by the 5th and 7th Brigade, and they managed to capture some of the German trenches.

The 27th Battalion had minor roles in withdrawing the Germans in the Hindenburg Line, in early 1917. Between February and March 1917, the 27th Battalion stayed at Mametz Camp, France and fought minor battles with the enemy in the Scotland trench. The weather was very cold, freezing. In April 1917, the 27th Battalion in Shelter Wood camp for infantry training and reorganization. On the 9th of May 1917, 7th Brigade marched to Bapaume and went to Decauville for Shelter Wood camp. During these months, they did not carry out any major roles until later on. Most days at this time was spent training and reorganizing the troops. On 12th of September 1917, the 27th Battalion marched to Steenvoorde, then marched to Montreal camp. On the 18th to 19th of September, operation orders were received, and preparations were made for moving into the battle line.

On the 20th of September 1917 at the battle of Menin Road, Belgium, where the 27th Battalion, alongside the 12th and 18th Battalion, played a major role in with winning the battle. Their tactic was to initiate a surprise attack against the Germans before daylight in the morning of 20th September. It worked, and went according to plan. The Germans defence was feeble, and the ANZAC soldiers were high-spirited and determined. Then, at 5:30am, the artillery barrage opened, and the soldiers charged forward. The 27th Battalion’s job was to attack, capture, consolidate and hold the Blue Line. The German Aircraft made a counterattack on the Blue Line, but there was minimal casualties. The attack was a success for the British, the casualties light.

The 27th Battalion also played a role in the victory of capturing Broodseinde Ridge on the 4th of October 1917. However, before the battle even started, the front lines were heavily shelled as the Germans also launched an attack, and resulted in the loss of a seventh of soldiers. Through perseverance, the Australians and US managed to complete all their objectives, even though the Australian divisions suffered 6,500 casualties.

On 20th of January 1918, Horace was promoted to driver. The driver had to load, drive, and maintain the vehicles and take care of the army’s supplies.

In February 1918, on the 23rd, the Brigade units carried out a training program which included setting up drills, Battalion tactical experiences and musketry. Competitions were organized, and 28th Battalion was first. The 7th Brigade was third. It is mentioned that all the soldiers health and morale were excellent, and they did their best to present themselves well.

The front lines in the German spring offensive
 
The 27th Battalion fought back the Germans in the German spring offensive in April 1918. After a number of battles, the German soldiers were exhausted and had lost a lot of food because they had travelled so fast and far in a short span of time. The Germans hoped the spring offensive would break the stalemate and win the war, before United States troops used their full might. The 7th brigade attacked Morlancourt at night on the 10th of June 1918, and they managed to stay at the front lines for 10 minutes or so. On the 4th of July 1918, the 27th Battalion supported the others during the Battle of Hamel. The battle only lasted 93 minutes.

On the 2nd of August 1918, Branford went to England for personal reasons, and returned on the 20th of August, so he missed out the Battle of Amiens. He was admonished by the captain of the Brigade on the 22nd of December 1918 when he was caught smoking during a celebratory march in France. He was likely to be a little defiant and not follow to the rules, as he had been told off on many occasions.

The 27th Battalion’s last battle was in October 1918, where there were orders for the 2nd Australian Division to carry out an attack against the Germans. This operation, also called the Beaurevoir Line, was to be carried out on the 3rd of October and they would try to seize the village of Beaurevoir. The German didn’t offer much resistance or fighting, and sometimes even none at all. It was quite a successful attack, and only eight people in the 27th Battalion were killed.

He was transferred to base for return to Australia on the 15th of January 1919. He visited hospital with an unspecified illness on February the 18th. On the 28th of March 1919, he returned to Australia from “Port Macquerie”, Cardiff. Branford was discharged of duty on the 29th of April 1919.

He was awarded three medals at the end of the war: The first medal was awarded to soldiers that battle in World War One between 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915. The second medal was awarded to everyone that served in the war. The third medal was to commemorate that the British won the war.

In 1926, he was arrested and put in jail for a month for not taking care of his child. Branford died at the age of 55 years old, on the 20th of October 1941. He died in his hometown, Solomontown. He is on the Port Pirie Fathers of Sailors and Soldiers Association Port Pirie District Roll of Honor WW1. It is located in Port Pirie RSL Military Museum, 294 The Terrace in South Australia.