Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Henry George Helier Goss, born in February of 1895 in the town of Broken Hill, New South Wales. He was the son of Mr and Mrs Goss, who also had a daughter whose name was Evelyn, who would not only be Henry’s sister but also his close companion.

Not long after Henry and his sister Evelyn were born, their mother and father died. This forced Henry and Evelyn to move to Adelaide to live with relatives who owned the Adelaide Gladstone Hotel. Henry and his sister Evelyn would also attend school in Adelaide too. Henry became a fitter, which is now called an engineer, and Evelyn would go on to work with relatives at the Gladstone Hotel. Henry later moved to the Adelaide suburb of Norwood. Not long after Henry had moved to the suburb of Norwood, word of the great war would make its way to South Australia and the rest of Australia. Soon the streets of Norwood and the rest of Adelaide were crawling of posters of enlistment details and Australia wanting men to enlist to help their motherland Britain in the war. Henry was not quick to jump into enlisting in the great war as he had family relatives and a sister in Adelaide. 2 years passed before Henry decided to enlist in the war and join the A.I.F.

The main reason for him joining the A.I.F. is that he was persuaded and pressured into joining the A.I.F. Older more crippled and aged people looked at Henry and asked him “why are you not overseas fighting for our country?” and “why have you not joined the A.I.F. yet?” Questions like these would have pressured Henry into enlisting and this is the main reason he did enlist in the war. Henry was a very young and fit male, and when older Australian citizens looked at him, they would have thought that he is wasting his abilities by not doing anything, and that he should be serving his country.

Henry enlisted on the 10th of April 1916, 2 years after the war had begun. He joined the 2nd Depot Battalion. After enlisting, Henry was sent to Mitcham in Adelaide to train for his journey ahead as part of the 2nd Depot Battalion.

After training for just over 4 months, Henry departed Plymouth Harbour, Adelaide for France on board HMAT Itria A53 on the 14th of August 1916

After several weeks on board the HMAT Itria A53 he had finally arrived in France on the 30th of October, 1916.

It had been 4 months since Henry had arrived in France when he was ‘taken on strength’ and moved into a different battalion. Henry had been moved up several ranks to the 5th Pioneer Battalion. He was placed into this battalion on the 7th of February, 1917. This specific Battalion consisted of several engineers/fitters and also many men who had previously been a cadet. Henry had been a cadet before, and he was specialised in armed services. Henry was also a fitter at the time and his skills in this field were going to be used by the A.I.F. In this specific battalion, Henry would be involved in a range of tasks including; fixing and repairing machinery and equipment, being involved in conflicts, using armed equipment and being in trenches for extended periods of time. Men in the 5th Pioneer Battalion were more than just ordinary soldiers; their tasks were much more demanding in some cases.

After 8 long months being in the 5th Pioneer Battalion, Henry became and fell ill. He was admitted to hospital in France on the 19th of October 1917. He was not wounded, but because of the conditions of war he had become sick. But however, he rejoined his battalion 6 days later on the 25th of October, 1917, he had spent less then 1 week in hospital.

After the WWI had concluded, Henry was sent to London, where he would board a ship back to Australia. He also rejoiced that the side, the allied powers he was involved and fighting in had come out as winners of the war. He also celebrated that the war was over and that there was peace at last.

Henry returned to his awaiting relatives and friends in Adelaide on the 10th of June, 1919. Once he had returned to Adelaide, Henry was awarded the British War Medal for his participation and involvement in the war, along with the Victory Medal, for winning the war. Henry had showed true ANZAC Spirit during the war including bravery, courage, fearlessness, compassion, heroism and mateship. He showed true spirit by doing what was right for his country in times of need. He showed bravery and courage not only during the war but also for enlisting in the war.

Bibliography 

Australian War Memorial Unit Diaries

Australian War Memorial 2009, Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War, Australian Government, Canberra, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/awm4/>.

Australian War Memorial Search for a Person

Australian War Memorial 2007, Search for a Person, Australian Government, Canberra, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/people/roll-search/all/?preferred_name=Henry+George+Helier+Goss&service_number=&unit=&conflict=0&op=Search>.

The A.I.F Project

UNSW Australia 2008, The AIF Project, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/search?type=search&name=Henry+George+Helier+Goss®Num=&place=>.

Service Record National Archives of Australia Website

National Archives of Australia 2005, Goss Henry George Helier, Australian Government, Canberra, accessed 22 March 2017, <https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au-/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx>.

Henry George Helier GOSS was born in Broken Hill, NSW in 1897

His parents were Henry Harfield GOSS & Florence WEBBER who married in Broken Hill in 1894

He enlisted on 10th April, 1916 & embarked from Adelaide, SA on the HMAT Itria on 14th August, 1916 with the 5th Pioneer Battalion

He returned to Australia on 10th June 1919 and was discharged on 21st September, 1919

Henry died in Salisbury, South Australia on 9th February, 1955