Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Herbert was working as a dairy farmer on his parents’ farm when he went directly to Casula to enlist on 2nd Dec 1915. He trained at Casula and was assigned to the 20th battalion on the 17th December, initially to B company, and then to the 11th reinforcements on 16th March 1917.  He embarked from Sydney on the Nestor for England on the 9th April 1916. After further training, he proceeded to France to joined the 20th Battalion on the 9th Sept 1916, marching in with the 11 reinforcements to Etaples. 

After withdrawing from Gallipoli, the 20th Battalion had been sent to the Western front. The  soldiers were in trenches, holding the Bridoux Salient to the south-east of Bois Grenier on the 5th May 1916 when there was heavy German bombardment, causing about 100 casualties. Herbert’s cousin Edward Edwards was among them. Herbert joined the 20th Battalion in October, when, the entire 2nd Division was moved to the south again and put back into the line in France once more. In November they launched an attack at Flers, in conditions that were so muddy that they were described by the official historian, Charles Bean, as "the worst ever encountered by the AIF". [1] 

Herbert was sent to the field ambulance sick on the 1st Dec 1916, then sent back to England on 12th December to be treated for dysentery. By the time he returned to the front in the New Year of 1917, his cousin Jack had joined the Battalion but it is not clear if they were aware of each other. If they were, the family gathering was short lived. Herbert was Killed in Action less than three months later. During the night of the 1st March 1917, a re-adjustment was carried out in the 5th Brigade's sector. The brigade deployed with the 17th in the front line, the 18th and 20th Battalions in support and the 19th in reserve. The 29th was arrayed with two companies in Gallwitz and Gird Trenches, one in Maxwell Support and one in Hexham Road. 20th Battalion Headquarters relocated to an abandoned German dugout in the centre of a railway dump near Butte de Warlencourt. The positions in the support line were shelled with resultant attrition and Privates Arthur Beveridge, William Carrucan, Herbert Everett, Julius Illfeld and William Millikin were killed [2]. Herbert was buried 3 miles south-west of Baupaume and later re-interred in what is now called the Walencourt British Cemetery. Based on his service he was eligible for the British War Medal (#36497) and the Victory Medal (336216).

The affect on family: Herbert’s death was devastating to his family. His personal effects, consisting of a broken mirror, a razor strop, his wallet and some photos were sent back to Australia on the Euripides. His mother Henrietta was heart broken. John signed for his eldest son’s personal effects on 22nd Oct 1917. After the war, Herbert’s parents were sent a photograph of their son’s grave. John Everett wrote a thank you in response, requesting a military overcoat on 26th July 1920. He signed for his son’s memorial scroll on 2nd Feb 1922 and then a memorial plaque on 10th May 1922.  But John was in failing health, no longer able to work. Henrietta’s request for a mother’s pension was turned down because John was still alive. She had to carry on the dairy farm with only her younger children as help. John died on 22 Feb 1923 at 64, six years after his son’s death. It was Henrietta who signed for The Victory Medal on the 5th Mar 1923. Perhaps feeling this was poor compensation for her son’s life, she wrote again about the mother’s pension, relating that her husband had died. She was in debt to the bank and unable to meet the interest payments. The only further correspondence in Herbert’s file was a letter to Henrietta on 12 October 1925, advising her that her son had been re-interred in the Walencourt British Cemetery.

[1] Wikipedia

[2] The Green and White Diamond 20th Battalion AIF Neville Browning