Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

#341  KIMBER James Henry (Harry)  2nd Light Horse Regiment
 
Harry Kimber was born to James Henry and Harriet Kimber in Biggenden. He attended Biggenden State School and worked a general farm labourer although his father when completing the Roll of Honour Circular stated his occupation as railway porter. Harry would be the first fatality of the war from the North Burnett and would also be one of the youngest
 
Harry travelled by train to Maryborough to enlist on 27th August 1914 and he would have been one of the first recruits to have been accepted. The officer who accepted Harry’s enlistment was Lieutenant Kessels of Degilbo and he would have known Harry well as both Leonard Kessels and Harry Kimber were members of the 1st Light Horse (Citizens) with a troop at Biggenden. Harry stated his age as 19 years and 5 months and he named his father as next of kin.
 
Two days after his acceptance into the AIF, Harry was taken on strength by the 2nd Light Horse at Enoggera. The 2nd Light Horse was one of three regiments that would make up the 1st Brigade ALH and was part of the first contingent to be placed at the disposal of the British Government at the outbreak of war. Most of the recruits for the light horse were men like Harry who had experience in either the 1st Light Horse (Citizens) from Wide Bay and Central Queensland or 3rd Light Horse (Citizens) from the Darling Downs. Men had to pass a riding test and those who failed were farmed off to the infantry.
 
The time at Enoggera was taken up with the issue of uniforms and weapons, and drills involving individual squadrons from the regiment. Horses had to be purchased by the regimental quartermaster and vet and farrier staff trained. On 19th September 1914, the 2nd Light Horse led a parade which also included Field Artillery, Machine Gunners and Service corps 12 miles from Enoggera to Queen Street in the centre of Brisbane. The Brisbane Courier described “A fine body of sun-tanned athletic men in khaki.”
 
Five days after the march, the regiment travelled to Pinkenba where they boarded the “Star of England.” The original plan was for the convoys of ships carrying the first contingent of the AIF to assemble for a hasty departure for Europe but fears surrounding the exact location of Admiral Graf von Spee’s China Squadron of battleships and cruisers held up the departure until verification was received that the German squadron was in the central Pacific heading towards South America.
 
While waiting for the all clear, the men of the 2nd Light Horse as well as two battalions of Queensland infantry disembarked in Melbourne for further training. In late October, the 38 ships that would make up the first contingent of Australian and New Zealand troops assembled in Albany, Western Australia and set sail on the 1st November 1914. During the voyage, the Australian Cruiser HMAS Sydney encountered the one ship which had detached from von Spee’s squadron and had been terrorising ports in the Indian Ocean. The sinking of the SMS Emden was greeted with great joy amongst the men on board the transports. Also, during the voyage, news was received that Turkey had entered the war on the side of Germany and Austria Hungary which changed the plans for the Australians and New Zealanders. When the Light Horseman landed in Egypt on 9th December 1914, they were deployed to protect the vital Suez Canal from possible Turkish incursions across the Sinai Peninsula.
 
There was no real intention to deploy the Light Horse to the Dardanelles Campaign in April 1915. The plan was for the four brigades of Australian infantry, and the New Zealanders to land near Gaba Tepe on the Gallipoli Peninsula and advance to the narrows on the eastern side overlooking the asiatic shore of Turkey. The unexpected resistance offered by the Turkish defenders and the precariousness of the Anzac beachhead necessitated the deployment of reinforcements. Less than 3 weeks after the initial landing, the Light Horsemen stationed in Egypt were mobilised to land at Gallipoli.
 
The 2nd Light Horse landed at Anzac Cove on 12th May 1915 and immediately climbed up a steep gulley, which was quickly named Shrapnel Gulley to a position on the ridge line at a position called Quinn’s Post. Quinn’s had been occupied since the evening of the first day by a Queensland Infantry Battalion, the 15th, and was in desperate need of relief. The trenches were at some places only forty metres apart with Anzac trenches backing on to cliffs at the head of Shrapnel Gulley. The Turks held the high ground which allowed them to observe movement in the Anzac trenches. The arrival of the Light Horse would have been easily observed by the Turks, particularly as the relief all sported emu plumes in their hats. Seizing the opportunity presented by the changeover, the Turks mounted a spirited attack on the Trenches at Quinn’s.
 
The war diary of the 2nd LHR mentions a desperate defence mounted by the troopers on the 13th May in which 25 were killed. Two days later the 2nd was relieved and went into bivouac down near the beach at the foot of Shrapnel Gulley. Shrapnel Gulley was aptly named. The position was within range of Turkish artillery on the other side of Gaba Tepe. The regimental war diary records that on 17th May at Monash Beach, 1 man killed. That man was Harry Kimber, aged 19. In all likelihood, he was killed by artillery fire.
 
Harry was buried in a cemetery which became the Ari Burnu Military Cemetery on the beach of Anzac Cove. When the Kimber family were informed of Harry’s death, James Kimber began enquiries into the circumstances of his son’s death. Not satisfied with the lack of details supplied by the military authorities in Melbourne, James Kimber wrote to the Prime Minister Andrew Fisher. Fisher was well known in the Maryborough and Gympie regions having worked in coal mining at Howard and Torbanlea (near Maryborough) and gold mining at Gympie. He was subsequently elected to the first Commonwealth Parliament as the member for Wide Bay.
 
Harry’s brother #3847 Edward Kimber enlisted on 21st September and served with the 25th Infantry Battalion. He returned to Australia in 1919.
 
Notwithstanding the correspondence to his federal member, James Kimber was finally able to receive some details when the commanding officer of the 2nd LHR, Lt Col Stodart wrote to James. James was much moved by a sentence in the colonel’s letter which stated that “James had given every satisfaction.” Personal effects which included cards, letters, a notebook, two penknives and a ring were despatched to the family. James Kimber snr continued to pester the authorities in regard to Harry’s deferred pay. He again sought the assistance of important persons when the Shire Clerk of the Degilbo Shire wrote to base records in February 1916 requesting an early resolution of the payments; boldly pointing out that “delays in settling payments could have a prejudicial effect on recruiting.”
 
When the Graves Registration teams returned to Gallipoli in 1919, the grave of Trooper James Henry Kimber was registered and in due course, a headstone bearing his name and unit and an inscription selected by his family; THY WILL BE DONE.