HIBBERT, Harry
| Service Number: | 855 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, February 1893 |
| Home Town: | Bendigo, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Memorials: | Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor, Bendigo Quarry Hill Methodist Church Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 855, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 855, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 855, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 855, 7th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, GSW right foot. | |
| 8 Aug 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 855, 7th Infantry Battalion, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli, Lone Pine. SW to left arm and shock. | |
| 13 Mar 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 1st Pioneer Battalion | |
| 22 Jul 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 855, 1st Pioneer Battalion, Battle for Pozières , Severe SW to left arm and GSW to right arm. | |
| 31 Mar 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 855, 1st Pioneer Battalion, RTA 9 September 1916 and formally discharged as Medically unfit on above date. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Larna Malone
Harry Hibbert, known as ‘Dick’, was born in Bendigo, the son of John & Margaret Hibbert. His father was deceased and his mother lived in Houston-street, Bendigo. ‘Dick’ was a Miner, and had previously worked as a clerk in Bendigo & Melbourne. He was 21 years & 6 months old and had served for 5 years as Bugler in the 2nd AIR. He was working in Broken Hill when war was declared and returned to Bendigo where he enlisted on 21/8/14. He arrived at Broadmeadows Camp on 24/8/14, was allotted Service no. 855 and appointed to ‘G’ Company, 7th Battalion, as a qualified Bugler.
The 7th Battalion left Broadmeadows Camp on 18 October, 1914, and embarked for service overseas on board HMAT ‘Hororata’. Arriving in Egypt the battalion moved into camp at Mena, at the foot of the pyramids. (6/12/14)
In January, 1915, the Australian force was re-organized. In the 7th Battalion ‘G’ and ‘H’ Companies joined to form the new ‘D’ Company. This meant that all the men from Northern Victoria were together in one Company.
The 7th Battalion was part of the force which landed at Anzac Cove on 25th April, 1915. Harry Hibbert was Wounded during the Landing, sustaining a bullet wound in his right foot.
Hibbert: “After being in the firing line all day I was unlucky enough to get shot in the right foot. It was just on dusk, about 6 o’clock. I managed to get back to the beach, and on one of the transports. I was up in the firing line with the rest of the boys when I got hit. I had several narrow escapes. One bullet tore a small hole in my left coat sleeve, and another one nipped off a piece of my boot. About five minutes after I got one properly in the toes of my right foot. [Bendigo Advertiser June 11, 1915]
Hibbert: “I think I had a charmed life in that ‘scrap’. And honestly speaking, a man who came out of it the first day alive was lucky. You might wonder what a man’s feelings are like when he is fighting. Well, to tell you the truth, a man is off his head while he is there, and you take no notice of your ‘cobbers’ dying all round you, but when you hear a shell coming that is the time you think. You can hear it coming with a horrible screech and you shove your face in the dirt and shrivel up small enough to get inside a jam tin.” [Bendigo Advertiser July 19, 1915]
He rejoined the 7th Battalion on 2/8/15. On August 8th the 7th Battalion moved into position at Lone Pine, preparing to participate in a Diversionary attack on the Turkish trenches on the 400 Plateau. ‘D’ Company, under Lieut. W. J. Symons, was on the left, manning the line from Wood’s Post to Goldenstedt’s Post. Heavy fighting ensued with multiple casualties. Harry Hibbert was Wounded (2nd occasion) on 8/8/15, sustaining a Shrapnel wound to his left arm and shoulder.
He rejoined the battalion at Anzac on 29/11/15. In December preparations began for the evacuation of Anzac. The 7th Battalion was withdrawn on the night of December 19th. They embarked for Lemnos and then disembarked in Egypt on 6th January 1916.
In Egypt the Australian Force was re-organized and new subsidiary units were created. The re-organization included the formation of One Pioneer Battalion in each infantry division. Harry Hibbert transferred to 1st Pioneer Battalion on 13/3/16. He went on to serve on the Western front, but was Wounded (3rd occasion) on 22-27/7/16, sustaining GSW to his right arm. He RTA M.U. on 26/8/16.
“The First Lot. 7th Battalion. The first men of the Bendigo district to volunteer for service in the First World War.”: Larna Malone
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