Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Harry Emmett and Mary Ann Agnes Bailes, Wilson Road, Newmarket Queensland.

Mrs. H. E. Bailes, of Newmarket, has received official advice that her son, Pte. H. P. Bailes, was killed in action in France, on August 16. The deceased soldier, who was 21 years of  age last February, had been on active service for two years. Prior to enlisting he was employed at the Post and Telegraph Office at Esk, and before leaving for the Front was a  member of the Army Service Corps in Brisbane. A brother—Norman—is on active service with the veterinary corps attached to the Light Horse in Palestine.

#2889  BAILES Harold Percy                                       47th / 15th Battalions
 
Harry Bailes was born at Esk around 1896, the second son of Henry and Mary Bailes. Harry attended Esk State School and then began work at the Esk Post Office where it is possible his father was the Postmaster. As was common at that time, Harry probably began work as a telegram boy delivering telegrams around the town before progressing to work as a telephonist at the Esk exchange.
 
At some stage, Mary Bailes moved to Wilston in Brisbane and it is likely that Harry went with her. Both of Mary’s sons had a connection with horses. Harry joined the Permanent Remounts Section of the Army Service Corps which had responsibility for sourcing, breaking and transporting horses and mules needed for military service at home and overseas. Norman enlisted in May 1916 and was taken on by the Veterinary Section of the Light Horse.
 
Harry presented himself for enlistment at Brisbane on 5th October 1916. There was a great need for reinforcements at this time after the crippling casualty figures from the Somme campaign and Harry was no doubt eagerly accepted. He was 20 years old, of good build and 5’10” tall. Harry named his mother as his next of kin even though his father was still in Esk. Harry took a train to Enoggera where he was taken in by the 11th depot Battalion before being hastily assigned to the 7th reinforcements of the 47th Battalion, which had suffered numerous casualties at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm in August 1916. Less than three weeks after enlistment, Harry and the other 100 or so reinforcements boarded the “Marathon” in Brisbane for the voyage to England. The embarkation roll shows that Harry had allocated 3/- a day to his mother.
 
The reinforcements landed at Plymouth on 9th January 1917 and then proceeded to the 12th brigade Training Battalion at Codford in Wiltshire. Harry spent several months in the camps around Codford including a stay in hospital with an undiagnosed fever. On 22nd May 1917, Harry crossed the English Channel to Havre and marched in to the Australian infantry depot there. On 10th June 1917, Harry was reallocated to the 15th Battalion. The 15th, part of the 4th Brigade of the 4th Division AIF had just taken part in the attack on Messines Ridge and after being relieved required quite a number of reinforcements to replace the killed, wounded and missing.
 
As Harry was finding his feet with his new battalion, the 15th moved in and out of the front line for the next two months; repairing trenches, carrying wire and screw pickets, digging dugouts and manning the firing steps. On 6th September, Harry reported sick to the 58th Casualty Clearing Station. His file records PUO; Pyrexia of unknown origin, but it was probably trench fever caused by a bacteria spread by body lice.
 
Harry was evacuated to England and admitted to the Reading War Hospital where he remained for two months. Upon discharge he was posted to the convalescent depot at Hurdcott where he contracted influenza, delaying his posting back to the front. It was not until July of 1918 that Harry once again crossed the English Channel to France. He was returning to a very different war from the one he had left in 1917.
 
The Germans had launched an overwhelming assault from the Hindenburg Line in March 1918 which captured most of the gains that the British forces had made in the Somme campaign of 1916. With the vital communication hub of Amiens under threat, the British Commander, Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig ordered four of the AIF divisions then in Belgium to race to defend Amiens. The German advance was halted at Villers Bretonneux in April and a period of harassment by the AIF began. On 1st June 1918, the newly promoted Lieutenant General John Monash was given control of the entire AIF in France and Belgium and began to plan offensive operations. The first of these was a small but brilliantly planned action at Hamel which was an entirely Australian operation. Hamel boosted Monash’s reputation as a strategic planner and he was given the task of coordinating a much larger offensive which was timed to begin on the 8th August 1918.
 
When Harry finally made it back to his battalion on 24th July, the 15th Battalion was training for its role in the coming Battle of Amiens in two weeks’ time. The battle plan called for four Australian Divisions, three Canadian Divisions and two British Divisions to advance supported by tanks, aircraft, artillery firing smoke and high explosive shells. Preparations were conducted in secret and the 15th Battalion spent several days in the rear areas practicing advancing across open ground supported by tanks.
 
On the evening of the 7th August, the men of the 15th as part of the 4th Division moved quietly into their starting positions. All movement up to the start line was conducted at night and the noise of tanks was masked by aircraft flying low over the German lines. The 4th Division was positioned behind the 2nd Division which would advance to the green line and dig in allowing the 4th Division to move through and on to the red line. The battle began in dense fog at 3:10 am and the fog and smoke hid the size of the advance from the defenders until it was too late. By 1:15pm, the battle was over. It was a stunning victory.
 
The Australian Corps had advanced more than 10 kilometres in open country, taken almost 8,000 prisoners and captured more than 500 artillery pieces and machine guns (many of which ended up as war trophies in parks around Australia). Amiens is considered the beginning of the campaign which played a large part in ending the war 100 days later.
 
After the success of Amiens, Monash was pressured to use his Australians to keep up the pursuit of the enemy. The war diary of the 15th records that on 11th August, the battalion was rested. Men swam in the Somme and beer was available to those with money. It was high summer and the men enjoyed a brief respite from normal routine. On 13th August, the battalion was ordered to move to Bayonvillers. While on the march, “A” Company was hit by a German shell which killed ten and wounded two. One of those killed was Harry Bailes.
 
Harry was buried temporarily in the German cemetery at Bayonvillers. His personal effects which included two wallets, letters, cards, photos and a handkerchief were sent to his mother. Henry Bailes left Toogoolawah and he and his wife lived at Wilston in Brisbane.
In 1920, Harry’s remains were exhumed and reburied in the Heath British Cemetery. His headstone contains the inscription A LOVING SON DEEPLY MOURNED TILL DEATH SHALL UNITE US ONCE MORE.