BONNELL, Henry Roy
| Service Number: | 4661 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 23rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Malvern, Victoria, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Heart failure, Preston, Victoria, 8 August 1968, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Apr 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4661, 23rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Apr 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 4661, 23rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Melbourne |
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Henry Roy Bonnell was a quiet, serious, responsible, solitary and private man who went to war aged 21 on 4th April 1916 with the 23rd Infantry Battalion. He left behind his wife, Mary and their 3 year old daughter, Williamina behind. He'd been a driver and grave digger with the ANZACs in Villers Bretonneux. Returning from WW1 in 1920 he found his wife Mary (nee Douglas) had an additional child in his absence. He then took on the psuedonym of Harry Williams until his death in 1968. Following his return, Harry spent the following 14 years as a 'swaggie'. He met my grandmother, Ruby Sherwell around 1932 in Nhill, Victoria. Ruby Keene in Horsham. She already had several older children who had already left home, one who had been killed, and her youngest, Stan, was then 4. Harry stayed with Ruby, brought up Stan and he and Ruby had their only son, Ellis John Keene (called 'Jack'), in 1936. He is buried under his true name in Preston Cemetary.
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