COLLINS, Henry John
| Service Number: | 5787 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 24 July 1893 |
| Home Town: | Gympie, Queensland |
| Schooling: | One Mile State School, Gympie, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Railway porter |
| Died: | Killed in action, Gueudecourt, France, 1 February 1917, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gympie & Widgee War Memorial Gates, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5787, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 5787, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Choon embarkation_ship_number: A49 public_note: '' | |
| 4 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 5787, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Choon, Brisbane |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Henry John Collins was the son of Charles Collins, M.L.A., and Sarah Jane Collins, of Gympie, Queensland. The father, Charles, was the Member for Bowen for 21 years.
Henry joined the 15th Battalion at the front on 31 October 1916. He was reported missing after a raid on 1 February 1917, near Gueudecourt, when the 15th Battalion attacked a section of the German front line known as Stormy Trench. The party consisted of 150 men and six officers, or one and half companies. The attack started at about 7.00 p.m. on a frontage of 500 metres. Although the enemy trenches were only 100 metres from the Australian lines, inadequate artillery support caused the attack to fail. A German counter attack at 11 p.m. was beaten off. In the face of relentless German shelling of the captured trenches, and a stronger German counter attack at 4.30 a.m. the Battalion was forced to retire. Although 52 German soldiers were captured, the 15th Battalion’s casualties were 38 men killed, over 20 captured by the Germans and over 80 wounded.
In his Red Cross file it was stated that Henry was shot by a sniper in No Man’s Land and that his body was found and buried by the 13th Battalion when they retook the trench on 5 February 1917.