HARFORD, Howard Reginald
| Service Number: | 2774 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 May 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Franklin Harbour, South Australia, 14 March 1889 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Port Augusta, South Australia, 31 March 1925, aged 36 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Port Augusta Carlton Parade Cemetery RC Section Blk 30 Grave 5 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 24 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 2774, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 2774, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2774, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Anchises, Adelaide | |
| 24 Feb 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, 2774, 10th Infantry Battalion | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 2774, 50th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Howard Reginald Harford's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Paul Lemar
Howard Reginald HARFORD was born 14.03.1889 to Richard Steel HARFORD and Selena Madera (WATSON) at Franklin Harbour (Port Pirie).
HARFORD has a very chequered army career. He joined the AIF at Keswick on 25 May 1915. He was appointed to the 8th reinforcements, 10th Infantry.
It appears HARFORD arrived at Mudros Harbour (staging area for Gallipoli campaign) on 27.11.15. We can assume he went on to serve on the Gallipoli campaign. He returned to Egypt on 26.02.16 before heading to France on 12.06.16.
He was seriously wounded near Calais, France on 14.09.16 (gunshot wounds to head and leg) and evacuated to England for treatment. He was returned to his battalion in France on 21.1.17.
It is at this point that he seems to have gone adrift and started to get into trouble. He had one AWL offence on 13.1.17 followed by an offence of disclosing military movements in a letter on 27.05.17.
Around the same time, he received letters from his brothers Earn and Roy in SA to say his wife and abandoned his two children, Howard and Lizzie and was ‘playing up’ including mention that she was starting a brothel. (26.02.16 and 04.02.16). Both letters are on his military file.
On 10.06.17, HARFORD was reported missing in action in Belgium. He was arrested on 18.01.17 as an ‘illegal absentee’. On 18.07.17, he fronted a field general court martial where he was charged with desertion. He pleaded not guilty but was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He was sent to a Military Prison in Havre, France.
On 06.09.17, HARFORD’s sentence was commuted to 2 years imprisonment.
On 17.08.18, his remaining sentence was suspended and he re-joined the unit in France.
A few days after release from military prison, he was admitted to hospital with “venereal disease” and remained in hospital for over 2 months.
On 21.11.18, HARFORD contracted influenza and was admitted to hospital.
He re-joined his unit a few days later and remained with the unit until 24.02.19 when he was again charged with AWOL.
On 08.04.19, his unit was returned to England and subsequently returned to Australia departing 12.05.19.
En route, he was admitted to the ship’s hospital with ‘venereal disease’. Arriving in Adelaide on 29.06.19, he was admitted to the military hospital.
He was discharged from the AIF on 24.02.1920. No disability pension was given.
Click images to start slideshow.