Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Henry Charles Lands fought for Australia in WW1. He was in the 43rd battalion and was ranked as a sergeant. He was killed in battle at 26 and registered at 25, he was never married. Henry was a Methodist and was born in Newcastle, NSW but later moved to 88 William Street, Norwood, South Australia. Henry was killed in action at France 13th February, 1917. For his efforts Henry was awarded a British War Medal and a Victory medal.

Henry Charles Lands fought for Australia in WW1 and was killed in action in France, but before all of this he lived in Newcastle, New South Wales. In New South Wales, Lands had previous military service in the Scottish Rifles. Lands’ occupation was a driver and he went to Newcastle South Public School for education. Lands never married and was 25 before he enlisted over in South Australia to fight in WW1. Lands reached a height of 5’10 ½ , had grey eyes, and weighed 164 lbs.

The 43rd battalion, raised in March 1916 in the third division of the eleventh brigade, this battalion was one of the last sent which was predominantly South Australians. The battalion served on the Western Front from late 1916 to November 1918, after the war it was made a part-time unit in South Australia, but later merged with the 48th battalion in 1930. The battalion also fought in WW2 between 1942 and 1944.

Henry Charles Lands was the sergeant of this very successful battalion and fought for eight months and four days, most of the battles were in France. 25 other Australians died on February 13 1917 but no one from his battalion died on this day or the day after which suggests that they may have been travelling to the battle of Messines in 1917 of which the battalion received honours in and may have been hit by a random shell and killed. Lands received a Victory Medal which was issued in 1919 and was to be given to all allies, each nation’s ribbon was standard but the bronze medallion looked different, Henry was also awarded a British War medal which was issued by King George V in 1919 to mark the end of the war, to receive the medal in the army one would have to enter theatres of war during a specific period of time.

The ANZAC Spirit includes the following features:

·      Endurance

·      Courage

·      Ingenuity

·      Mateship

·      Good humour

Henry Charles Lands showed these features and thus was promoted to a sergeant after a short while in training at Egypt.

The abbreviation “ANZAC” originally stood for: “Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.” The abbreviation now has several different meanings, one of the meanings is to describe the legend of the Australian soldiers who fought in WW1 at Gallipoli but was soon adopted to have a meaning of every Australian soldier who fought in WW1. Now Australians celebrate “ANZAC Day” and it is one of Australia’s most important national occasions. Australians show respect to the soldiers by attending the “Dawn Service” and in this service Australian soldiers are to stand in a line, awake and armed whilst a vigil takes place.