COLLINS, Henry George
| Service Number: | 3699 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 25th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Mackay, Mackay, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 29 July 1916, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Mackay Cenotaph, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3699, 25th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Kyarra embarkation_ship_number: A55 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3699, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kyarra, Brisbane |
Henry George COLLINS
Henry George Collins was born at London and was a clerk aged 32 years when he enlisted at Rockhampton, Qld, in August 1915, naming his sister in England as next of kin. Henry and a friend, J.F.T. ("Dobbie") Dobson went down together from Mackay, where they had been well-known members of the group of sociable young people living at the "St. Kilda" boarding house in Sydney St., Mackay. News of their enlistment, along with that of other "Mackayites", was reported in the local "Mackay Mercury".
Having disembarked at Marseilles 27 March 1916, Henry Collins was in time to take part in the July 1916 Somme offensive, during which he lost his life. On 20 July, he was reported "missing in action". Later, he was reported "In German hands", and in July the following year, he was officially reported as having died of wounds on 29 July 1916 while a prisoner of war. He was sadly mourned at Mackay, where his fate was not known to friends until years later.
Submitted 4 May 2025 by Joan Holloway