TOWNSEND, Harold Edward
| Service Numbers: | 160, Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 September 1914, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 1st Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Orange, New South Wales, 23 March 1887 |
| Home Town: | Orange, Orange Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Mining Surveyor/Engineer |
| Died: | Natural causes, Burwood, New South Wales, 21 June 1948, aged 61 years |
| Cemetery: |
Woronora Memorial Park, Sutherland, New South Wales Anglican Monumental - Section UA - 0009 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 160, Melbourne, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Sep 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Corporal, 160, 3rd Field Company Engineers, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Sep 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Second Corporal, 160, 3rd Field Company Engineers, HMAT Geelong, Melbourne | |
| 31 Dec 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 160, 3rd Field Company Engineers | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 160, 3rd Field Company Engineers, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 26 Jul 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 3rd Field Company Engineers | |
| 26 Jul 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 2nd Field Company Engineers | |
| 1 Dec 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 2nd Field Company Engineers | |
| 18 Dec 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, 2nd Field Company Engineers, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Mentioned in Despatches - Destruction of Guns during evacuation and construction of embarkation pier at Brighton Beach. Signed by Maj Gen Harry Chauvel, Commander 1st Australian Div | |
| 12 Mar 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 1st Pioneer Battalion | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Captain, 1st Pioneer Battalion | |
| 23 Jul 1916: | Honoured Military Cross, Battle for Pozières , Directed engineering work skilfully showing great bravery... | |
| 29 Jun 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, Officer, 1st Australian Divisional Engineers | |
| 14 Feb 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Captain, 1st Pioneer Battalion |
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Captain Townsend enlisted in the 3rd Field Company Engineers as Sapper (160) at the outbreak of the war. Prior to embarkation he was promoted to 2nd Corporal but reverted back to Sapper at his own request. Townsend took part in the action at the Suez Canal, Egypt against the Turkish forces before landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
Mentioned in Despatches for his involvement in the action at Leane’s Trench, he was shortly thereafter promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and transferred to the 2nd Field Company Engineers. Whilst attached to the 2nd Field Company he was again Mentioned in Despatches, this time for his work in the construction of the evacuation piers and the demolition of the artillery guns during the evacuation of Gallipoli.
After transferring to the 1st Pioneer Battalion in early 1916, he was promoted to rank of Captain where he saw action at Pozieres, Ypres, Bullencourt and Menin Road in France and Belgium. For his work at Sailly and Pozieres Townsend was awarded the Military Cross in the 1917 New Years Honours List. Remaining with the Battalion until the war’s end, he returned to Australia on the H.T. Nestor on December 11 1919, after which he returned to his previous occupation as a mining engineer in Broken Hill before later returning to Sydney.
Re-enlisting in the 2nd Garrison Battalion in 1940 and was appointed Lieutenant., he was discharged medically unfit and placed on the retired list shortly thereafter. Captain Townsend died in 1948. He did not marry and was survived by his sisters, nieces and nephews.
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