Dewhurst, Harold Bernard
292 Gunner Harold Bernard Dewhurst - 36th Heavy Artillery Group
Harold Bernard Dewhurst was born in Hull England on the 2nd February 1891. He grew up and was educated in Yorkshire.
Harold appears to have come to Australia circa 1910.
He signed up for service with the Australian permanent artillery and was posted to the Artillery Barracks in Fremantle.
On the 1st June 1915 many of the permanent gunners at the Barracks were able to enlist. Harold was passed as fit with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 8 inches tall;
Weight - 144lbs;
Chest Measurement - 35-38 inches;
Complexion - Ruddy;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Brown.
The Gunners who enlisted in WA were then sent to Victoria where the other Artillerymen of the Permanent Forces were gathering. On the 17th July 1915 Arthur and the others of the original Australian Siege Brigade departed from Port Melbourne aboard the transport ship HMAT Orsova which took them to England.
However prior to their departure, the men were marched through the streets of Melbourne, as seen below (Published in the Australasian July 1915)
After arriving in England in September 1915, the men were disembarked and sent to the Artillery training Depot. They were initially stationed at Lydd, then Taunton in Somerset where they spent the Christmas of 1915.
The men were then organised into the 54th and 55th Batteries of the 36th Heavy Artillery Group. Harold was allotted to the 54th Battery.
On February 27th 1916 Harold, as part of the 54th Battery, arrived at Boulogne France. They spent three days here and on March 7th left with their guns and travelled to Mont St Eloy near Arras where they went into billets. On March 16th 1916 the men of the 54th & 55th Battery of the Siege Brigade suffered their first casualties when the Germans shelled their billets at Mont St Eloy. Three of the Gunners were killed and fourteen were wounded. Fortunately Harold escaped unscathed.
The Gunners gained experience of the Western Front through April to June 1916.
In July 1916 the 36th Heavy Artillery Group supported the British and Australian infantry in the Somme offensive in what was a busy time. They remained in this sector for the next few months.
In December 1916 Harold was detached for duty with the 68th Heavy Artillery Group, however he returned to the 54th battery in January 1917.
Harold's unit were then situated near Bouzincourt on the Somme battlefield providing fire support to the front line. They were here through to early April 1917 when they moved north to near the Belgian border. They would then provide fire support for the Australian and British soldiers at Ploesgsteert in Belgium.
Herbert's Battery was also kept busy through June and July 1917 with the Battle of Messines and the opening phase of the Third Battle of Ypres.
On the 13th July 1917 Harold was evacuated ill with gas poisoning when a German gas shell exploded nearby. Fortunately it was not severe and after four days at the 91st Field Ambulance, Harold returned to his unit.
As the Ypres battle continued the Artillery batteries moved closer to the front and they provided fire support for infantry operations from August to November 1917.
Harold had a short break to England in August 1917, returning to the 54th Battery on the 3rd September 1917. The Third Battle of Ypres was then in full swing. On the 28th September 1917, Harold was blown up by a German artillery shell which struck near his Battery. He also received a scalp wound and was severely concussed/shell shocked.
His wounds were patched up at the 12th Australian Field Ambulance and he returned to the 54th Battery on the 8th October 1917. However, Harold was suffering severely from shell shock which caused unusual behaviour. A fellow Battery member, No.409 Gunner Alfred Boughen reported that;
"On the afternoon of October 20th I was sitting in a dugout with Bdr. Dewhurst and some infantry men. At about 8pm the enemy put a fairly heavy barrage with 5.9 Howitzers all around the dugout, some shells bursting very close. Bdr. Dewhurst was very nervous and said that he was not feeling well, he also said that he would not stay in the dugout any longer as it was right in the line of fire and he at once got up and was going to run, when I caught a hold of him and told him not to go out as it was more dangerous outside than in the dugout. After about half an hour the barrage lifted and the infantry left and I went outside to finish some work I had to do. When I returned to the dugout about ten minutes later, Dewhurst was walking up and down and pulling his stitches to pieces, to all appearances quite out of his mind. I called out to him but he took no notice of me whatever so I went into the dugout and took hold of him and brought him outside and then assisted him up to the BC's (Battery Commanders) post. When we arrived there the Officer on duty instructed me to take him to the dressing station. During the whole period from the time I called out to him in the dugout until I handed him over at the dressing station he never spoke, although questioned on different subjects, and to all appearances had very little control over his limbs.
Harold was taken to the 57th Field Ambulance and though the reactions of shell shock were beginning to be understood better, he was till marked down as ill but as 'NYD' or Not Yet Determined.
On the 21st October Harold was admitted to the New Zealand Stationary Hospital at Wisques. While hew as here he underwent further tests and was said to be suffering from neurasthenia.
Harold was then transferred to the 26th General Hospital at Etaples. He remained here till the 11th November 1917 when he was transferred to the Convalescent Camp.
After a few weeks his condition had not improved, so on the 7th December 1917 was transferred to the 2nd Stationary Hospital at Abbeville. Harold spent the next three weeks here receiving treatment and then on the 28th December 1917 was transferred to England.
On arrival Harold was sent to the 5th Southern General Hospital at Portsmouth and then on the 10th January 1918 was transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford.
The medical authorities it seemed had diagnosed his shell shock and recommended that Harold be returned to Australia.
On the 18th January 1918 he was granted a two week furlough and it appears that it was during this time that he got married in England to Hettie Smith. Hettie, who lived in Hull England, had been listed as his next of kin when he enlisted in Fremantle in 1915. She then became Hettie Dewhurst, though retained her Hull address for the time being.
On the 1st February 1918 Harold reported back to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth. He would remain here for a few weeks while waiting for a transport ship.
On the 13th march 1918 Harold boarded the hospital ship Dunvegan Castle at Plymouth and set sail for Australia. When the ship arrived at South Africa, Harold was disembarked in Durban, and on the 25th April 1918 was then put aboard the ship Field Marshall, and arrive din Fremantle on the 14th May 1918.
After being disembarked Harold was medically assessed at No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle. He was then discharge from the AIF on the 5th June 1918.
He then went to live for a time in Stephen Street Fremantle and received a war pension of 40/- per fortnight.
However it appears that in 1921 Harold had returned to England and was living at 5 Endymion Terrace, South Boulevard, Hessel Road Hull England.