HARLAND, Cecil George
| Service Numbers: | 2041, SN 2041 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 October 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cradock, South Australia, 4 October 1891 |
| Home Town: | Broken Hill, Broken Hill Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Metal Worker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Fromelles, France, 20 July 1916, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
VC Corner Cemetery and Memorial, Fromelles, France VC Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial, Fromelles, Lille, Nord Pas de Calais, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Baulkham Hills William Thompson Masonic School War Memorial, Sydney United Grand Lodge Honour Roll, V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Oct 1915: | Enlisted | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 2041, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Miltiades embarkation_ship_number: A28 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 2041, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Miltiades, Adelaide | |
| 20 Jul 1916: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 2041, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2041 awm_unit: 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1916-07-20 | |
| 21 Jul 1916: | Involvement Lance Corporal, SN 2041, 32nd Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix), Fought in the Battle of Fromelles and was killed. | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 32nd Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix) |
DNA
I have provided my mothers mDNA to the Army and have a match. That gets him
a grave but we need a male DNA match to get Cecil a name plate. Any Harland's out there?
Submitted 9 June 2022 by Ron Featherston
Biography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College
Cecil George Harland was an Australian soldier who fought in World War 1, but he is also my Great, Great, Great, Uncle. He fought in the 32nd Infantry Battalion but was killed in his first battle, the battle at Fromelles, France. This is his story.
Cecil George Harland was born on the 3rd of October 1890 in Broken Hill, NSW, to mother Mary Ann Clarke and father John George Harland. He had one older brother by 5 years, Sidney James Harland, and his older sister died just before Cecil was born. Not much is known about Cecil’s George Harland early life, but we do know that before he joined the army he worked for the Umberumberka Waterworks as a plumber. Umberumberka Waterworks was an important part of the growth of Broken Hill and is now one of the most complete steam-driven water supply systems left today, and is open for public inspection.
Cecil George Harland did not have a very long life in the army, disembarking on the 7th of February 1916, before dying on the 19th of July 1916. He disembarked as a reinforcement, Regimental Number 2041, on the boat ‘Militiades’ to join the 32nd Infantry Battalion in Egypt and was Taken on Strength (joined the battalion) on the 8th of April. He was a Private, but after just 2 months he was promoted to Lance Corporal. On the 17th of June he left Egypt on the ‘Translyvania’ to join the British Expeditionary Force in France. He disembarked 6 days later in Marseilles. 1 month later, the battle of Fromelles started. The 10-hour battle of Fromelles is commonly regarded as ‘the initiation for Australian soldiers to warfare on the Western Front’. The soldiers were ordered to attack the German front lines to distract the Germans from the mounting British defence at the Somme, but it was a terrible disaster resulting in huge losses of life. Over 5,500 Australians were killed including Cecil George Harland. Interestingly Hitler fought in this battle on the German side. Cecil George Harland was shot in No Man’s Land and his body was never found by the army.
After the battle was over, the Germans collected the dead bodies from the battlefield and placed Cecil and many other lost soldiers in a mass grave. Unbeknownst to this, Cecil’s family put this touching vigil in the Advertiser newspaper:
HARLAND. – In loving memory of our dear son and brother, SOM, Corporal Cecil George Harland, killed in action, July 10th, 1916.
Died, that is all they could tell us.
Of the noble boy we loved so well.
His family in the dark, the grave was left untouched by humans, and Cecil’s body was undiscovered by history for 92 years. Until, in 2008, when Scottish archaeologist Tony Pollard discovered the dead of Fromelles in a mass grave in Pheasant Wood. However, Cecil George Harland’s body was still unidentified until a DNA match was found on his female side, which gets him an individual grave. However, a male DNA match will be needed to get Cecil an name plate. A male descendent has been identified but is unwilling to submit their DNA. Until this changes, we will never truly know where Cecil George Harland lies.
Bibliography:
Virtual War Memorial | Cecil George HARLAND (vwma.org.au)
recordsearch.naa.gov.au. (n.d.). Session expired | RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia. [online] Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=4932071&isAv=N
www.awm.gov.au. (n.d.). AWM4 Subclass 23/49 - 32nd Infantry Battalion. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1339197
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/5574563
www.thetimes.co.uk. (n.d.). The Times & The Sunday Times. [online] Available at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article4093167.ece?print=yes&rand
Clark & Hardy: their Australian story, by Carolyn Patterson, Published 2021 (Privately Published)
Click images to start slideshow.