Wynne, Henry Joseph

3444 Private Henry Joseph Wynne - 16th Battalion AIF

Henry Joseph Wynne was born in Fremantle WA on the 28th January 1886 to Thomas and Alice Wynne.  A brother Thomas John Wynne was born in Fremantle in 1890.

Henry grew up in Fremantle before heading to Claremont. After leaving school he took up work as a farm hand. During this time he also served in the 18th Light Horse Regiment of the Citizens Military Forces.

On the 8th October 1916 Henry enlisted into the AIF. He was found to be fit for enlistment with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 4 & 1/2 inches tall;

Weight - 125lbs;

Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;

Complexion - Fresh;

Eyes - Grey,

Hair - Black.

Upon his successful enlistment Henry was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.89 Training Depot. He spent over three weeks in this training camp being taught the basics of infantry work.

On the 16th November 1916 Henry was assigned to the 24th Reinforcements to the 16th Battalion. He had two weeks with this group but on the 2nd December 1916 was transferred to the 8th Reinforcements to the 5th Pioneer Battalion.

Henry trained with this group in WA for the next three weeks. On the 23rd December 1916 Henry and his group entrained for Fremantle where they boarded the transport ship HMAT Berrima and set sail for England. After the long sea voyage the ship docked at Devonport Harbour on the 16th February 1917.

After being disembarked, Henry and his group were then sent to the Pioneer Training Battalion at Larkhill on the Salisbury Plains. Henry would train at this camp for the next few months. On the 2nd April 1918 he fell ill and was admitted to Parkhouse Hospital but returned to training on the 20th April 1917.

Henry remained in England for the next three months. He had been transferred from the Pioneer Training Battalion to the 4th Training Battalion at Codford Camp. Henry was now reassigned units and would be joining the 16th Battalion.

On the 24th July 1917 he left England and proceeded to France and on arriving at Le Havre was marched into the 4th Australian Division Base Depot. Henry stayed here for the next few weeks and was taken on strength by the 16th Battalion on the 12th August 1917.

The 16th Battalion were then in the vicinity of Messines. On the 20th August, just a week after joining his unit, Henry was wounded, but fortunately it was only a slight wound and remained on duty. The 16th Battalion would be here for a few more weeks at Messines before being sent further north to Ypres to take part in the current offensive taking place there.

The 16th Battalion saw action at Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke and Broodseinde Ridge during their time at Ypres through September and October 1917. Fortunately Henry came through safely.

In December 1917 the Battalion moved to Peronne France for a short period of time but then returned to Belgium in January 1918. The 16th Battalion was helping to hold part of the front line between Ypres and Messines.

On the 1st February 1918 Henry suffered from gas poisoning when German gas shells exploded nearby his position. He was evacuated to the 14th General Hospital at Boulogne and had four days there before he was shipped to England.

He was admitted to Graylingwell War Hospital in Chichester. Henry had a week there and was then transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford.

On the 25th February 1918 he was granted a fortnight's leave and on his return on the 11th March 1918, he reported into No.3 Command Depot Camp at Hurdcott.

Due to the gas poisoning he'd suffered, Henry was not able to be sent back to France but for the remainder of the war he was put on duty at No.3 Command Depot Camp, where he worked as a cook and batman (officers servant). He then went to Walton Camp in Buckinghamshire.

On the 5th September 1918 Henry married Emily Adams of Birkhampstead

He was still at Walton when the Armistice was announced in November 1918.

Henry had applied for a period of Non Military Employment on the 17th February 1919, he went to learn Railway Plate Laying at H Matthews and Sons in Windsor Buckinghamshire.

This training lasted until the 17th May 1919. Henry however applied for another three months with the company and this was granted, however he did not see out this full period as Henry had been assigned a berth on a troopship home. On the 21st June 1919 he boarded the ship Kongin Louise and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 3rd August 1919.

Upon his arrival home, Henry was sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle for a medical checkup.

He was then discharged from the AIF on the 10th September 1919.

Henry waited for Emily to come to Western Australia and then in 1920 the family moved to the wheatbelt where Henry resumed farming. A daughter called Dorothy was born in Brookton in 1920 and a son called Keith in Kellerberrin in 1923, and another daughter Alice in 1933.

Henry Joseph Wynne died in Northam in 1971 aged 80.