HARDING, Henry Charles
| Service Number: | 2675 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 July 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Hackney, Middlesex, England, August 1880 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Permanent Way Worker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 24 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2675, 18th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 2675, 18th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 2675, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 24 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 2675, 3rd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2675 awm_unit: 3 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-07-24 |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
Henry was born about August 1880 at Hackney, Middlesex, England. He worked for the Permanent Way Branch of the NSW Railways. At the time of his enlistment at Liverpool on 13 July 1915 he was unmarried and gave his mother, then living in St Peters, as his next of kin.
He left Australia through Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Euripides’ on 2 November 1915.
He was killed in action on 24 June 1916 at the Battle of Pozières.
Submitted 29 August 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Henry Charles HARDING, (Service Number 2675). worked for the Permanent Way Branch of the Railways. Harding describes his occupation as ‘Miner’ and this would be consistent with Per-Way work.
He was born about August 1880 at Hackney, Middlesex, England. At the time of his enlistment at Liverpool on 13th July 1915 he was unmarried and gave his mother, then living in St Peters, as his next of kin.
He left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Euripides’ on 2nd November 1915 and reached Egypt in February 1916. He had been allotted to the 18th Battalion but was transferred to the 3rd on arrival at Tel-el-Kebir. In March he embarked from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front.
He was fined for being in Alexandra without a pass, before embarkation. In France he was given seven days’ Field Punishment No. 2 for ‘Breaking away from Coy without orders from Superior Officers' He was also fined a day’s pay for being Absent Without Leave for two hours.
In May 1916 he was hospitalised with Influenza. He did not re-join his unit until June. He was again disciplined, this time for being drunk, on 11th June, and incurred three days Field Punishment No. 2.
He was killed in action on 24th June 1916 at the Battle of Pozières. He was buried close to the road from Contalmaison to Pozières, just SE of Pozières. 3¾ miles NE of Albert. After the war in the rationalisation of cemeteries, his remains were exhumed and re-interred at Pozières British Cemetery.
He is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. The AWM site also includes a photo of a cross on his grave.
- based on notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board