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From Francois Berthout, France

Private 3844 David Bernard Harford,
51st Australian Infantry Battalion, 13th Brigade,
4th Australian Division of the Australian Imperial Force
 
The Somme, today so peaceful under light spring breezes waving the blood-red poppies, was more than a hundred years ago, a hell never seen before, a nightmare made of fire and steel which, through the howls , transformed once green landscapes into putrid quagmire in which drowned and fell thousands of young men who, coming from the other side of the world, coming from the golden hills of Australia, fought in France with the greatest bravery in the most sacred bond of camaraderie and who, under fire, under bullets, standing proudly next to each other, watching over each other like brothers, gave their all to preserve the values which brought them together on the battlefields of the great war on which they sacrificed so much through unspeakable suffering but, guided by this sacred spirit, by the ANZAC spirit, they faced death, adversity, the brutality of war to make peace prevail, to defend our freedom and the future of their loved ones, to offer future generations the hope of a better world and through the eyes of young Diggers, this fight was worth all the efforts, all the sacrifices but after Pozieres, after Villers-Bretonneux, after Amiens, thousands of them, caught early in the prime of their lives, found in the sacred fields of the Somme, the eternal silence of their last resting places but today, standing always proud and young behind their white graves, they stretch out their hands to us to tell us their stories forever engraved in stone, so that we can in turn pass on the memory and the stories of these heroes who gave so much and that's why today I walk in their footsteps, that I watch over them with respect, to say who they were and what they did, so that they can live forever, so that they can never be forgotten.

Today, it is with all my heart, with the utmost respect and with the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, of one of my boys of the Somme who, for Australia and France, two great nations united in the most beautiful bond of friendship, gave his life.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 3844 David Bernard Harford who fought in the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion, 13th Brigade, 4th Australian Division of the Australian Imperial Force, and who died of his wounds 107 years ago, on March 31, 1917 at the age of 30 on the Somme front.

David Bernard Harford was born on 28 October 1886 and was the son of David and Susan Ann Harford, of Berri, South Australia. His mother would later state that "he was born in a spring cart at Albany after us doing a journey of fourteen hundred miles accross the Nullarbor through sandhills and wilderness on tracks that were often indistinct". Twenty year old Susan being pregnant must have endured much with the threat of not always being able to find food and water, scrub turkeys and ducks being their main supplies.

Young David's father was a poet and a dreamer who roamed the countryside most of his life. When gold was discovered in the Murchison that's where the family headed. At about 7 years old, David attended the newly erected school house at Day Dawn Public School near Cue.By this time the family had increased to four children,the family living in tents on the booming new goldfield.After six years on the goldfield the family was on the move again,heading South to another new find, Kundip, near Ravensthorpe. The family had grown to six children and it was a struggle to provide for them. When David was 22 years of age his mother and father had a heated argument over the marriage of their Catholic daughter to a Protestant. Their father rode off on his horse leaving them the cart that had taken them over the thousands miles of country, the family never to hear from their father again.

David's mother eventually returned to South Australia with the children whilst David stayed in Kundip with his newly married sister.He worked on mine sites around Kundip until the outbreak of the war and was a founding member of the Rifle Club where he learnt to be a very proficient rifleman winning several prizes in rifle club competitions.

David, who deeply wanted to do his duty for his country, enlisted on July 14, 1915 at Ravensthorpe, Western Australia, in the 28th Australian Infantry Battalion, 9th Reinforcement, and after a training period of just under seven months at Blackboy Hill Camp, near Perth, Western Australia, he embarked with his unit from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A28 Miltiades on February 12, 1916 and sailed for Egypt, arriving at Serapeum on April 2 then followed a new period of training in the 13th Training Battalion in Tel-El-Kebir from May 14. On arriving in Egypt he noted in his diary his surprise at seeing gum trees lining some of the streets in Cairo. After that, he proceeded for England where he arrived on July 21 at Rollestone but boarded another ship the same day for the battlefields of the Western Front.

After a quick journey across the Channel, David arrived in France and was disembarked on July 22, 1916 in Etaples, on the eve of the terrible battle of Pozieres, in the Somme, which was one of the deadliest battles for the AIF which, in less than seven weeks of furious fighting, lost 23,000 men. At Etaples, he joined the 4th Australian Divisional Base Depot and was informed that he was now transferred to the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion. The 51st Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Murray Ross, a regular British Army officer, was raised in Egypt in 1916 as part of the process that was known as "doubling the AIF" to create the 4th and 5th Divisions. Following the evacuation from ANZAC and with recruits arriving from Australia in large numbers, it was decided to split the 1st Division (1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigades) and the 4th Brigade into two to create sixteen new or so-called "Pup" Battalions. The 3rd Brigade was split to create the 13th Brigade and together with the 4th and 12th Brigades comprised the new 4th Division.

On August 11, 1916 David fell ill and was admitted to the 24th General Hospital in Etaples suffering from mumps then after recovering, returned to the 4th Australian Divisional Base Depot on September 2 and joined the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion as a sniper on September 24 at Reninghelst, near Poperinge, on the Ypres salient. A few days later, on October 4, he was sentenced to suspension of field pay for a period of 72 days because "when on active service, disobedience of a Routine Order in that he was in the town of Reninghelst at 9-10pm without a pass or written leave from his commanding officer".

After this incident, he and his unit took up position in the trenches of St Eloi on October 8 and fought with courage under the constant fire of the German artillery, which caused frequent damage in the trenches and on the parapets which the men of the 51st worked to repair and improve day after day then were relieved on October 23 by the 23rd Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and moved back to Reninghelst for a period of rest.

On October 25, David and the men of the 51st Battalion left Reninghelst and marched to Wippenhoek for reorganization then boarded the next day by train from Hopoutre for the hell of the Somme and arrived later in the evening in the small village of St Riquier where they spent the night. The next morning, after breakfast, they moved to Gorenflos and followed a period of training including trench attack practice. On November 4, the 51st Battalion marched to Vignacourt.Here, David's unit underwent intensive training then on November 7, boarded French motorized buses for Buire-Sur-l'Ancre then marched to Fricourt on November 13 for a period of physical exercises but the front line was closing in and the thunder of the artillery was already making the smell of death felt.

On November 14, 1916, David and his comrades were sent by motorized bus to Bernafay Wood and were billeted at Pommiers Redoubt Camp where they alternated periods of rest, fatigue party, railway fatigue then on November 26, the time came for the men of the 51st to do their duty and entered the trenches of Flers. There, one morning, David lived an experience which marked him deeply and which he related as follows:

"At six o’clock this morning I shot a Hun, an observer, at 400 yards. I happened to spot him with a pair of field glasses I had borrowed. He was all alone, looking through a pair of field glasses with his head and shoulders above the parapet (foolish fellow). My loophole was well hidden, a plate of steel (or iron, I am not certain which). About three eighths of an inch thick, set into the parapet, with a hole just big enough to put the rifle through. There was a big bush of giant nettles growing around the loophole, which added to its invisibility. Took careful but quick aim and pulled the trigger. He spread his arms out and fell backwards, throwing his glasses in the air as he fell. When I saw him fall a queer thrill shot through me, it was a different feeling to that which I had when I shot my first kangaroo, when I was a boy. For one instant I felt sick and faint, but the feeling soon passed and I was my normal self again and looking for more shots, which I did not get that day."

During a terrible bombardment, he wrote:
"As bombardment increases in intensity we retire to our dugouts,not that they afford much protection from flying splinters.We lie flat on the floor and listen to the awful bombardment which is rapidly merging into a continous roar.The ground trembles beneath me and the air is charged with an acrid reek of high explosive fumes.In all this overcharged horror there comes as by a merciful dispensation of nature a certain insensibility to all the fears,quite simple thoughts pass through ones mind so it's all to end here. Here in this dark mildewed hole in the earth, I am to go out. I look around me at my dark rat hole,the sides of the roof of which are lined with sandbags which by the way are not filled with sand but clay and the brown-black soil of the country. Halfway up in the corner a cluster of poison mushrooms or toadstools peer down at me,the centre ones a little taller than the rest,seems to nod at me and sways and trembles to the concussions from the terrible bombardment."

On 2 December 1916, the men of the 51st Battalion relieved the 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion on the right flank of Flers, between Bulls Road and Grove Avenue. Here, David and his unit, in a line of support, worked to improve their positions and used "Duckboards" for this purpose which were originally used between the trenches to facilitate their passage. During the days which followed, numerous reconnaissance German aircraft flew over the positions of the 51st and dropped flares which enabled the German artillery to precisely shell the Australian trenches which suffered breaches at several points but were quickly repaired and protected then on December 5, the 51st was relieved by the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion and moved back to rest at Buire-Sur-l'Ancre where they remained until December 19.

On December 19, 1916, the men of the 51st Battalion left Buire-Sur-l'Ancre and moved back to Vignacourt where they followed a new period of training, received reinforcements and had a little rest. It is probable that during his stay in Vignacourt, David met Louis and Antoinette Thuillier, a couple of French farmers who had a photography studio on their farm and who, during the war, took thousands of photos (more than 4000) of Australian soldiers but also of French, British, Canadian, American, Indian and Chinese soldiers, which are still on display today.

On January 3, 1917, David and the units of the 51st Battalion left Vignacourt and marched through Cardonette, Buire-Sur-l'Ancre, Fricourt and arrived at Bazentin Camp B (nicknamed "Bendigo Camp") at Bazentin-Le-Petit on January 8 and were used in working parties, in particular to improve a trench line called "Switch Trench" but also to improve the camp.

At the same time, communication roads made of "Duckboards" leading to Flers were built then on January 27 , returned to the front line that they previously occupied at Flers and occupied four positions in this sector, "Gap Trench", "Switch Trench", "Hay Reserve" and "Forage Avenue" where they fought until February 16, date on which they were relieved by the 50th Australian Infantry battalion and marched to Perth Camp, near Fricourt and worked on improving the camp (made of huts), built shelters, established field kitchens and remained here until to February 24.

On February 25, 1917, David and the men of the 51st Battalion left Perth Camp and moved back to Buire-Sur-l'Ancre where they had to undergo a new period of training including musketry exercises, bayonet fights as well as practices of attacks on consolidated positions under the cover of intense artillery barrages from trenches. We see in these exercises a development of combat and attack tactics that the AIF continues to improve to save as much as possible the lives of his troops who suffered cruelly at Pozieres and Flers.

On March 26, 1917, the 51st Battalion left Buire-Sur-l'Ancre and marched to Mametz Camp and the next day, moved to Vaulx-Vraucourt (Pas-De-Calais) where the battalion cautiously pursued the retreating German army towards the Hindenburg line and relieved the 25th Australian Infantry Battalion but unfortunately, it was here that on March 31, David was seriously wounded by a gunshot and was immediately evacuated then admitted to the 5th Australian Field Ambulance at Pozieres, in the Somme, where he died later that day, he was 30 years old.

Today, David Bernard Harford rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at the Pozieres British Cemetery, Ovillers-La-Boisselle, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "He bore his cross, he wears a crown,sometime you'll understand."

David, seeing your photo, we see today the courage of a man who, in the prime of his life, responded with determination and hope to the call of duty and who, with faith, with conviction, served and fought with honor and loyalty for his country but also for his loved ones and his comrades who, in the trenches of the Somme, through the barbed wire, became brothers and shed their blood shoulder to shoulder. Before the war, they were young boys who loved to laugh, who wanted to live and enjoy every moment in the playgrounds and who, across the golden fields of Australia, worked energetically to make their country proud but when the skies darkened, when the bells announced war, of all ages, of all beliefs they gathered, they put down their pens, closed their shops, left behind everything they loved, left the warmth and security of their homes to do what was right. Animated, pushed forward by the ardor of youth, by a very strong spirit of patriotism, of fraternity, they took a step forward to be present alongside their friends in what they thought would be a great adventure, the most great and noblest moment of their lives and, smiling, full of enthusiasm, they carried the rifle, wore their colors and, under their slouch hat, marched together on the roads of the north of France singing, their hearts beating to the rhythm of bugles and drums and unknowingly headed towards hell. So young, so innocent, nothing prepared them for what they were going to experience and endure days and nights but, under the shells, they arrived in the trenches of the Somme and saw what they believed to be ghosts and silently relieved battalions of wounded, bandaged men whose empty eyes expressed a nightmare never endured before and whose uniforms were torn, burned and stained with blood. It was there all the cruelty of the war which was made visible. The living came across mutilated men, silent on stretchers and who despite the pain, did not complain once. They tried to speak to these poor boys who, with sad faces, advanced in line towards the rear and who, looking back, said to those who took their place in this apocalypse "courage, hold on, it is from hell that we are coming back."In that moment, the smiles disappeared and the innocence of these young boys was forever lost in the din and chaos of rains of bullets and shrapnel which fell on them. Under their steel helmets could be read all their distress and their fears and under violent artillery barrages shelling their positions, with nowhere to hide, with nowhere to flee, they held their positions but felt like trapped animals that death came to seek and saw their comrades, their friends were torn to pieces in long tongues of fire which made the earth tremble in enormous explosions then, before being annihilated, after a long wait, received the order to go over the top.Already severely tested by this deluge of fire, the young Diggers fixed their bayonets and climbed the wooden ladders to charge alongside their brothers onto battlefields which no longer had anything human, on which all life had disappeared, on which all the trees were pulverized. Everything was desolation and despair. Everything was mud and blood everywhere, craters everywhere where the eyes rested. Craters like putrid quagmires into which fell friends and enemies who, during furious hand-to-hand combat, killed each other with rifle butts and shovels. Fights from which terrible howls of pain and agony were heard and through these slaughterhouses, an entire generation was lost.These horrors, sometimes very difficult to imagine, are those which were experienced and endured by so many men, brothers and fathers who gave their all in the name of peace and freedom and for four years, were changed forever. These horrors were those which, long after the war, haunted the nightmares and nights of these veterans, of these survivors who could never forget the sacrifices of their brothers in arms, of their comrades who died and remained forever where they fell .Of this hell which set the world ablaze, all that remains are the traces of trenches surrounded by shell holes but these traces are important to see because they allow us to understand, to imagine what these heroes experienced during the battles which were the deadliest of the war. This allows us to reflect on the past to build the future together, united in the peace for which so many gave their lives.The Somme was absolute hell but today the poppies grow on these sacred grounds. The machine guns, the rifles have fallen silent but solemnly, proudly, silently, thousands of Australian soldiers still stand here behind their immaculate graves, they stand as guardians of peace and the values for which they sacrificed so much and today, I feel very proud to be able to perpetuate their memory, to watch over them with a deep feeling of gratitude. As a young Frenchman, I feel honored to keep their memory alive but also to keep alive the friendship that unites Australia and France, a friendship forged in war and perpetuated in peace and which, in these words forever engraved on the walls of Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux “Do not forget Australia”, will live forever.Thank you for everything David, for everything you have done for my country whose gratitude, respect and love will belong to you forever. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.