ASLETT, Henry Charles
| Service Number: | 3231 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 50th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Grays, Essex, England, United Kingdom, 1890 |
| Home Town: | Brighton, Holdfast Bay, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Quarry School, Grays, Essex, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 16 August 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3231, 10th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: 'Name recorded on original roll as: "Aslett, Henry Charles"' | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3231, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Adelaide | |
| 16 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 3231, 50th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3231 awm_unit: 50 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-08-16 |
A TRIBUTE TO THE BRAVE.
A handsome memorial to the employees of the South Australian Portland Cement Company who have enlisted was unveiled at the Brighton works on Sunday afternoon. The company desired that there should be some permanent record of the patriotism of the men, and it was decided to place rolls of honour at the base of an Ionic column. The column is of reinforced concrete, and on the capital stand three rifles, cast in bronze. The names of 27 employees who have joined the colours appears in gold 011 grey granite tablets. The memorial, which is 30 feet in height, is at the junction of the Brighton and Hallett's Cove roads. There was a large attendance of shareholders, local residents, and visitors at the unveiling. Mr. E. H. Bakewell (managing director), in asking Mr. Charles H. Angas (chairman of directors) to perform the ceremony, referred in terms of praise to the men who had volunteered for active service, especially mentioning Lieutenants F. H. Lang and F. T. Measday and Privates D.. Murphy and H. Pottinger, who were killed in
France, and Private H. C. Aslett, who has been reported as wounded and missing. The directors, he said, thought it fitting that some lasting record of the employees' patriotism should be erected. The memorial was designed by Mr.
F. Nicholls (secretary of the company). Mr. Angas spoke feelingly of the directors'
appreciation of those who were so bravely representing the company at the front. They condoled with the relations of those who had made the supreme sacrifice. It was an honour to unveil the column." Other speakers were Mr. Simpson
Newland (chairman of the first cement company at Brighton, formed about 25
years ago), the Mayor of Brighton (Mr. J. H. Grundy), and Councillor R. Thistleton, of the. Marion District Council. Mr. J. Duffus replied on behalf of the workmen and the relatives of the men on active service.
Glenelg Guardian Thursday 10 May 1917 page 2
Submitted 2 February 2018 by Faithe Jones
Biography contributed by Sharyn Roberts
Son of Charles and Louisa ASLETT
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was Henry Charles Aslett-on the 1901 census he is shown as 10 years old and the fourth eldest of the six children of Charles and Louisa Aslett of 46 Hampden Road, Grays, Essex.He was 27 and his birth had been registered in Orsett which included Grays at that time.
Births Sep 1890 Aslett Henry Orsett 4a 398
He is commemorated on the Grays War Memorial which stands at the north end of Grays High Street; the names of the borough’s Great War dead are inscribed on the east and west panels, while the south-facing panel is inscribed with four lines from the poem, "Bivouac of the Dead" written by Danville, Kentucky native, Theodore O'Hara to honour his fellow soldiers from Kentucky who died in the Mexican-American War. The poem increased its popularity after the Civil War, and its verses have been featured on many memorials to fallen soldiers throughout the world,
On Fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.
Other locally born casualties who fell whilst serving with Australian forces in the Great War who are commemorated on the Grays War Memorial are:
Frank [Francis] Walter Facer
William Mears
Cecil Charles Mitcham
Bertram Neal
Josiah Needham Smith
Albert Stephenson
William George King
It must be assumed that the following locally born Australian casualties didn’t make it to any of the borough’s war memorials, possibly because there were no living relatives still around in the district when the lists were created.
George Seth Clayton
Charles Culley
Jesse Humphrey
John Musgrove
Richard Turnbull
C. Webb
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