Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Harry was born in Berringama, Victoria on the 11 May, 1896 to Thomas and Lucy Nugent. Thomas and Lucy’s family would extend to two sons, Harry and Frederic (1893 to 1963).

Harry enlisted on the same day as his brother, Frederic. His service number was one more than Frederics’ and both brothers would be put on strength in the same unit, the 6th Reinforcements of 13th Light Horse Regiment.

Upon enlistment, Harry was a 19-year-old farmer from Berringama, Victoria. He stood 5 foot 9 ¾ inches tall (177 cm) and weighed 154 lbs (72kg). His complexion was given as fresh, eyes blue and hair colour brown. Harry’s records show that he had vaccination marks on his left arm and tears on the base of thumb across the four fingers on his left hand. Harry’s religious denomination was given as Church of England.

On the 27 October, 1915, Harry embarked, with his brother, on HMAT A38 Ulysses and sailed from Melbourne, Victoria. The trip would take him across the Great Australian Bight to Fremantle, on to Colombo, in Ceylon, before finally disembarking at Suez, at the southern end of the Suez Canal.

It wasn’t long before Harry found himself being admitted to the 1st Australian General Hospital as he was sick. Exactly what he was sick with is not recorded in his files. He was discharged to duty on the 13 January, and two months later was taken on strength of the 4th Division Cavalry at Tel-el-Kebir.

Five days later, Harry was admitted to the 11th Casualty Clearing Station at Moascar with knee trouble. A four-day stay at the 1st Australian Stationary Hospital enabled him to rest and fix his knee problem enough for him to be able to embark on the SS Kingstonian at Alexandria. On the 10 June, 1916, Harry disembarked at Marseilles in the south of France.

One month later, he was taken on strength with the 1st Anzac Army Corp, 13th Light Horse Regiment. Throughout his two years in France and the Western Front, Harry had three periods of leave in England. After his first stint of leave, he was initially admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital in Abbeville suffering from ‘soft chancre’, a lesion typical of infection with the bacterium that causes syphilis. He then proceeded to the 39th General Hospital in Havre and was discharged after a total period of 57 days.

The months of May to September saw Harry with his unit on the Western Front. During this period the main tasks of the 13th Light Horse included traffic control, POW (Prisoner of War) escort, Divisional despatch riders and advanced patrolling before, during and after offensives.

During the last few months of 1918, Harry spent two weeks on leave in England and the rest with his unit. At the time of the Armistice on 11 November, Harry and the 13th were on patrol in the Mont St Quentin area moving between the villages of Bray and Levergies.

The new year brought the prospect of returning home to Australia. However, due to the vast numbers of men returning home, and a lack of transport numbers, the process was slow. The AIF set up education units to enable the men to learn new skills that they would need on returning home to Australia. Harry also managed to obtain a further stint of leave, which he spent back in England. Unfortunately, he contracted influenza and was admitted to the 2nd Scottish General Hospital in Edinburgh. Fortunately for him, his case was not lethal. Late in January of 1919, he was transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford where he was discharged to the No. 1 Convalescent Depot on the 28 February. Harry had his leave extended to the 7 March, after which he marched into the No. 2 Convalescent Depot at Weymouth, eventually embarking on HMAT A9 Shropshire and returning home to Australia on 16 May. On the 7 July, Harry was discharged from the AIF at Melbourne, declared medically unfit, although the disability was not stated.

After returning to Australia, Harry met Myrtle Leaford Swindells (1895 to 1964) and they married in 1920. It is not known whether they had any children during their marriage.

When war came upon Australia once more, Harry enlisted in the CMF (Citizens Military Forces) and became Sapper Harry Nugent, V147639, 13th Maintenance Platoon of the Royal Australian Engineers.

Harry passed away on the 16 November, 1945 at Campbellfield, Victoria, at the age of 49.

Extract from "Light Horsemen of the Upper Murray", Year 5 and 6 Project, Corryong College.