MAYNARD, Herbert Harold
| Service Number: | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 October 1914, HMAT Berrima, Melbourne |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia, 16 March 1889 |
| Home Town: | Morpeth, Maitland Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Morpeth Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed In Action, France, 5 April 1918, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" VIllers Bretonneux Memorial |
| Memorials: | Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Morpeth Public School Honor Roll, Morpeth St James Anglican Church Honour Roll, Morpeth War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Oct 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2002, 4th Field Ambulance, HMAT Berrima, Melbourne | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2002, 4th Field Ambulance, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '22' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Jun 1917: | Honoured Military Medal, Battle of Messines, Devotion to duty dressing the wounded while in the open under heavy fire. | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 2002, 48th Infantry Battalion, Dernancourt/Ancre, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 48 Battalion awm_rank: Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1918-04-05 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Herbert Harold MAYNARD was born on 16th March 1889 at Morpeth. He first worked for the NSW Government Railways as an apprentice clerk in the Berthing Masters Office at Newcastle from 6th May 1907. On 1st January 1911 he became an adult clerk. He must have had an interest in military matters as he had taken a week’s leave without pay in both 1912 and 1913 for training.
On 19th October 1914 Maynard was granted paid leave to join the Expeditionary Forces. He did not enlist until 1st November at Broadmeadows, Victoria. He was unmarried and gave his father living in Morpeth as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 4th Field Ambulance. He embarked HMAT ‘Berrima’ at Melbourne on 22nd December 1914.
Maynard joined the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on 12th April 1915. He served on Gallipoli for the whole of the campaign, only returning to Alexandria on 18th December after the general evacuation.
On st1 June 1916 he embarked at Alexandria for passage to Marseilles and the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France. Still with the 4th Field Ambulance he was promoted to Corporal at the end of 1916. He then came down with mumps and periods of hospitalisation and convalescence stretched out until the end of February 1917. Upon his return to duty he transferred from the Field Ambulance to an Australian Army Medical Corps Detail attached to the 48th Australian Infantry Battalion.
On 23rd June 1917 Maynard was awarded the Military Medal. The citation is:
‘For conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty during operations at MESSINES from June 7th to 11th instant. At one period Corporal Maynard dressed wounded incessantly for 36 hours in the open under heavy shell fire, during which time he did without food or sleep. His disregard for personal danger and devotion to duty set a splendid example and greatly cheered the spirits of the wounded.’
Maynard already held the Serbian Gold Obilich Medal for Bravery for actions at Pozières.
On 1st August he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, seemingly without ever holding the rank of Sergeant, and on 1st December 1917 to Lieutenant.
He was killed in action on 5th April 1918 in France. No details of the place or circumstances of his death survive. A memorial cross was erected at Henencourt Wood British Cemetery, four miles West of Albert. These crosses did not mark the soldiers’ graves. They were erected to their memory by their comrades, many names appearing on one memorial cross.
In time, a few large national memorials were erected to remember all soldiers who have no known grave, and Maynard is now remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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