MOODY, Harold Eric
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 August 1914, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | North Adelaide, South Australia, 23 March 1893 |
| Home Town: | North Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St Peter's College and University of Adelaide (Law) |
| Occupation: | Solicitor |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 27 August 1916, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Puchevillers British Cemetery, France (III.A.12.) Puchevillers British Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Members of the Legal Profession & Students at Law WW1 Honour Board, Adelaide National War Memorial, Adelaide University of Adelaide WW1 Honour Roll, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Hackney St Peter's College Fallen Honour Board, Medindie Wilderness School Roll of Honour WW1, North Adelaide Baptist Church Honour Roll, Yorketown War Memorial, Yorketown and District of Melville Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Apr 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, 1st Divisional Ammunition Column, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '22' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: RMS Persia embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, Adelaide, South Australia | |
| 10 Aug 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, 1st Divisional Ammunition Column, RMS Persia, Melbourne | |
| 2 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, 1st Divisional Ammunition Column, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 15 Oct 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 1st Divisional Ammunition Column | |
| 4 Nov 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade | |
| 27 Aug 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, Officer, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade , Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 3rd Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1916-08-27 |
THE LATE LIEUTENANT H. E. MOODY.
The late Lieutenant Harold Eric Moody, LL.B., was the eldest son of Mr. Clarence Moody, a well-known Adelaide journalist. He was wounded in France and taken to London, where he died on August 27. At the age of 18 he joined the local field battery, of which his grandfather, Major S. L. Moody, was in command 32 years ago. He obtained a commission in this unit. On the outbreak of the present war he was one of the first men to enlist when volunteers were called for. He was at first in the ammunition column, and spent one day in the Morphettville camp, but on obtaining leave to adjust his business affairs he was attacked, with measles, Lieutenant H. E. Moody. and was unable to leave for the front with the first contingent. He left Australia in the following June, as one of half a dozen artillery observing officers who had been asked for. He saw active service on Gallipoli for nearly four months, and was given the responsibility of taking the guns of his battery off the peninsula the night before the evacuation. He eventually proceeded to France, and as a member of the first division was no doubt at Pozieres, where the Australians saw so much fighting. Lieutenant Moody's scholastic career was a brilliant one. It began at St Peter's College, and, proceeding to the Adelaide University, he graduated in his law course before he was 21. He was admitted to the bar in March, 1914. He was articled to Messrs. Varley & Evan, whose business he had conducted at Yorketown for a few months before he went to the front.
Chronicle (Adelaide, SA) Saturday 23 September 1916, Page 43.
Submitted 5 November 2015 by Nathan Rohrlach
Biography
From the book Fallen Saints -
Harold Eric Moody was born at North Adelaide South Australia in 1893. He attended the Collegiate School of St Peter 1905-1909 and after leaving entered Adelaide University and graduated in law at before he was 21 years of age. He was admitted to the bar in March 1914, and before the war was employed with the firm of Varley and Evan at Yorketown.
In November 1912, while serving part time in the 34th Battery, Australian Field Artillery, he was appointed Second Lieutenant and was still a serving member of that unit when joined the AIF.
At age of 18 he had joined the local field battery, of which his grandfather, Major S L Moody was in command 32 years earlier. [i]
Although he was one of the first to enlist, after only a day at Morphettville he had requested leave to finalise his business affairs and while on leave contracted measles, which meant he could not leave with the first contingent as he had hoped.
On 1 May 1915, he was appointed to the AIF as a second lieutenant with the 7th quota of reinforcements for the 1st Division’s Ammunition Column; he sailed from Melbourne aboard RMS Persia on 10 August. He joined the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade Headquarters at Anzac on 3 September and was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 October.
In early November, he was attached to the Heavy Battery and then on 9 December was posted to 7th Field Artillery Battery. In an article published in an Adelaide newspaper a friend reported that after being at Gallipoli for nearly four months, Eric had been ‘given the responsibility of taking the guns of his battery off the peninsula the night before the evacuation.’ [ii]
After the evacuation, Lieutenant Moody was attached to the 8th Battery at Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt but rejoined the 7th Battery on 4 March and sailed from Alexandria three weeks later.
By July 1916 the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade, 1st Division Artillery was made up of the 7th, 8th, 9th Field Artillery Batteries, each equipped with 4 x 18-pound field guns and the 103rd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Battery with 4 x 4.5-inch howitzers.
On 8 August, German aeroplanes commenced harassing allied units and at 9.15 a.m., on 21 August, six German aircraft flew over the rear areas and dropped seven bombs on the wagon lines of the 7th Field Battery in Becourt Wood.
Nine men were thereby killed and Lieutenant H.E. Moody (of Yorketown S. Aust.) and 38 others wounded. Fifteen horses were killed and 29 wounded. [iii]
After the bombing Lieutenant Moody, suffering with wounds to his head, neck and chest was evacuated to 44th Casualty Clearing Station, Puchevillers and died there on 27 August 1916; he was 23 years of age.
[i] Adelaide Chronicle, 22 September 1916, p. 43
[ii] ibid
[iii] Bean, C E W, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, Vol III, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1929, p. 731
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