Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Hedley was the youngest son born on the 25th September 1914 at Korunye a small town near Two Wells in the mid-north of South Australia to John Thomas Scott Verner and Grace Evelyn Pratt. His siblings included Vivian, Keith, Valdi, Dallas, Evelyn and Monica.
Older brother, Vivian, a farmer had served in WWI. When peace declared for the “War to end all Wars’, he joined the Mounted Police on May 1st 1925 as a constable. Vivian was unfortunate to sustain a fall from his mount that year resulting in him being unconscious for 36 days. According to the News, 'The doctor considered that he was fortunate to be alive. He was not able to be sent on active duty following the accident, and was employed at the barracks, mainly in looking after the horses and doing routine work.’ Just prior to Hedley’s 12th birthday and at the end of September ’46 Vivian voluntarily resigned his position but inexplicably was found shot through the temple in his room at the Police Barracks at 9.15 on 19th October with his service revolver alongside. He had been chatting with colleagues just prior to the incident and no motive was evident. He was 27 years old. The inexplicable news affected his family as little was then known of brain injuries or how a young, active man would be affected with a passive job.
Post school, Hedley also became a farmer. He became engaged to Gweneth Porter of Two Wells in March ’40. However, with the outbreak of WWII, aged 25 he enlisted on the 3rd July ’40 as SX7721 and was allocated to the newly formed 2/48th Battalion. Early days for the new soldiers were spent in the cold of the Pavilions, now part of the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds before the battalion headed to Woodside in the Adelaide Hills for their preliminary training. Private Hedley Pratt returned home for pre-embarkation leave and to a farewell in his honour with friends and relatives gathering in the Lower Light Kindergarten Hall. The November Advertiser reported that ‘Mr. S. H. Davis spoke on behalf of the Korunye and Lower Light friends, also Mr. S. A. Wasley. Mrs. Davis presented a parcel of woollens from the Lower Light Red Cross Circle.’ Hedley then responded, thanking everyone for their support and generosity. Games, competitions, items, and a typical country supper followed.
Hedley then returned to the 2/48th Battalion with the contingent then embarking on the Stratheden for the Middle East, on the 7th November 1940, arriving on the 19th December 1940. A few months training in Cyrenaica followed and Hedley was graded as a driver mechanic. He was soon on his way to Tobruk and the fierce fighting in the desert where he would earn the highly respected title of being one of the Rats of Tobruk. Hedley’s leadership skills were also recognised in the ensuing months with his promotion to Acting Corporal in April ’42.
Meanwhile, his fiancée, Gwen Porter was particularly active with the Red Cross Comforts Fund. Fundraising for over a year, in February ’42 she was crowned winner of the Queen competition. That year was also defining for Hedley.
He was unlucky to receive a gunshot wound to the left side of his face on the 31st October ‘42. While fortunate to survive, this had long term effects on his eye and vision. By November ’42, his family received the unwanted news ‘Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Pratt, of Korunye have been informed that their youngest son, A/Cpl Hedley Hoskin Pratt, has been wounded in action in Egypt. He enlisted on July 1,1940 and went overseas five months later. He served in Palestine, Libya, Syria and Tobruk.’
John Glenn in Tobruk to Tarakan best describes the conditions under which Hedley was injured.
‘On the morning of the 30th October the khamsin rose and blotted out the sight of “man’s inhumanity to man”. It spread like a great shroud over Egypt, half burying the dead, and hid for a brief moment the hate and passion of war. And under its cover plans were laid for the final blow by the 2/48th Battalion.’ ‘We thought of ourselves as few enough then. But surely even the bravest among us would have shuddered if they could have known to what a weary handful we would be reduced by morning…’
‘The khamsin abated; unnatural silence covered the battlefield as the shadows closed in on the sands and blotted out the preparations for the night’s work, which was to be the most bitter and bloody fighting of the war. When next the sun drove away those shadows from the desert, death would have reaped a rich harvest of gallant men. And of the 2/48th Battalion only forty-one weary troops would remain in the field.’
‘At zero hour, 1 am 31st October, the artillery opened up with a receding barrage – one that creeps back on itself. The attack was towards the guns themselves, the enemy being between the safety margin of about six hundred yards, a fact that, added to the earlier delay over the start-line, caused much of the value of the barrage to be lost. Added to this, the troops came under heavy shell fire as they were forming up and suffered casualties before they commenced their attack.’
Hedley was evacuated to hospital and reverted to being Private whilst being treated. The following month he was formally assessed as being ‘temporarily unfit for service for a period greater than six months.’ By January he was on his way home with a debilitating eye injury (haemorrhage) resulting in extended sick leave and eventually the loss of his left eye. Hedley’s days of combat were over as he was awarded extended leave before he was officially recommended to return to his pre-war occupation of farming.
Still on leave, on the afternoon of 22nd May ’43 Gweneth and Hedley married at the Lower Light Methodist Church. He was finally discharged two months later in July. In later years he developed an interest in dog racing to the extent that Hedley had several roles, including as Controller of Beat and also Flap Steward.
Despite not being with those with whom he shared so many life-changing experiences, Hedley never forgot those of the 2/48th who had made the supreme sacrifice. Heartfelt tributes regularly appeared in the newspaper, remembering those young men. They included:
Advertiser 10 July 1943, A tribute of remembrance to Dvrs. J. Spavin, K. Stone, K. O'Leary, Sgt. L. Johnston, Cpls. W. Fletcher and A. Harding, killed in action in Egypt. July 10-22, 1942. In silence I remember. —Inserted by Hedley Pratt (A.I.F., ret.)
Advertiser 28 September 1943, GROTH.—A tribute to the memory of my pal, Rex, killed in action, Tel-El-Eisa, Sept. 28, 1942. Not just today, but every day, in silence I remember.—Inserted by Hedley Pratt, ex-2nd A.I.F
Advertiser July ‘44 JOHNSON, Sgt. Lester.—Memory of a pal, who made the supreme sacrifice, Tel El Eisa, July 17, 1942.—Always remembered by his pal Hedley Pratt.
Advertiser Friday 21 July 1944, HARDING Cpl. A. A. In memory of a pal, Alex, died of wounds received July 22. 1942 - Always remembered by his pal Hedley Pratt.
Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Monday 22 July 1946, page 14 FLETCHER, Cpl.—A tribute to the memory of my pal Bill and boys of the 2/48th Btn. who fell July, 1942. —Ever remembered by Hedley Pratt.

It took until the end of ’50 before Hedley finally received the medals he had earned for his war service. These were the 1939/45 Star, the African Star, Defence medal, War Medal and Australian service Medal.
Aged 68, Hedley died on the 7th December ’82 and was buried at Centennial Park with a plaque commemorating his service in the RSL Wall 113, Niche D006. His wife, Gweneth Effie survived him by four years and died on the 24th January ’86. She was buried in the Enfield Memorial Park.
Probably in the clean-up of his possessions, after his death an Italian WWII issue pistol surfaced. Engraved on the inside was Hedley’s service number SX7721, his name ‘H.H. Pratt and Korunye’. It was then in the hands of an Antique and Historical Arms Association member. Technically, captured arms were not to be brought back to Australia, but like so many other ‘souvenirs’, this had somehow returned with Hedley.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion