Higham, Albert Thedore
7487 Private Albert Theodore Higham - 11th Battalion AIF
Albert Theodore Higham was born in Port Augusta South Australia on the 15th March 1892 to George and Mary Higham. He had two brothers, George 1889 and John 1890.
The family then moved from South Australia across to WA.
Albert was married in Fremantle on the 11th January 1915 to Rose Evelyn Blanche Hicks, a son Albert born in 1916, Edward 1917 and Dorothy 1922.
In 1916 the family were living at 59 Suffolk Street (later renumbered to 1 Suffolk) and Albert had been working as a boat builder.
On the 13th march 1917 in Fremantle Albert and his brother John, both enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. Albert was found to be fit for enlistment, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 4 inches tall;
Weight - 135lbs;
Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Brown;
Hair - Light Brown.
Upon his successful enlistment Albert and John were sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was assigned to the 25th reinforcements to the 11th battalion AIF. They trained in WA for the next few months.
On the 29th June 1917 Albert and John with their reinforcement group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship HMAT Borda. The ship then set sail for England, reaching Plymouth on the 25th August 1917.
After being disembarked, Albert and John were sent to the 3rd Training Battalion at Durrington Camp on the Salisbury Plains. Albert had knee issues early on in the training and was sent to Fargo Military Hospital for a week of recuperation.
On the 7th September 1917 Albert returned to camp to resume training. On the 7th November 1917 he as transferred to the 2nd Training Battalion at Sutton Veny. He would train here for a further two months before being sent to France.
On the 16th January 1918 Albert left Southampton England and proceeded across to France where he initially spent a few days at the Australian Infantry Base Depot Camp at Le Havre. Albert was then taken on strength of the 11th battalion on the 22nd January 1918.
The 11th battalion were then in Belgium, helping to hold the front line south east of Ypres, between Hollebeke and Messines.
Albert spent the next two months with the 11th Battalion on front line service. On the 13th March 1918 he was sent to the 2nd Australian General hospital at Boulogne with further knee trouble. He spent a week here and then on the 21st March 1918 was shipped to England.
He was initially admitted to Shorncliffe military Hospital and remained there till the 1st April when hew as moved to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield. After being released from hospital a few days later Albert would spent the next few months in the AIF camps while his knee injury improved.
On the 8th August 1918 Albert returned to France and joined the 11th Battalion on the 15th August 1918. He then served with the 11th battalion for the next month.
On the eve of their last battle in the war on the 18th September 1918, Albert absented himself from camp. It appears that he had family issues and had wandered off and when he came back to where the 11th Bn had been they had gone. He reported back the following week on the 25th September 1918 once he located where the 11th Bn was situated.
As the 11th Battalion was on the eve of battle Albert was subsequently charged with desertion rather than absent without leave. The only defence Albert offered himself was that;
"with family troubles and one thing and another I was very much worried. I went to see if I could see my brother. When I came back he was gone. A barrage was on and I remained there till they came out and did not think I could find him. When I heard where the Battalion was I reported straight away."
John Higham had been wounded in the battle that Albert had missed. Despite other soldiers offering testimony that before this incident Albert had been a good soldier in the line and always following orders, he was given a sentence of eight years penal servitude.
Albert was then sent to the Australian Corps Safe Custody Compound where he remained for a few weeks and was then sent to the 7th Military Prison. Albert remained there till the 23rd February 1919 when he was transferred to England.
He was then sent to Canterbury Military Prison where he stayed for the next two months. On the 25th April 1919 Albert's sentence was suspended, so he would only serve six months of the eight year sentence.
After being released from prison Albert was sent to Weymouth where he would wait to be assigned a berth on a troopship home. On the 1st June 1919 Albert boarded the troopship Somali and set sail for home, disembarking in Fremantle on the 8th July 1919.
Albert was subsequently discharged from the AIF on the 22nd August 1919.
He then returned home, taking up residence at 135 South Terrace with his family, resuming his career as a boat builder.
Albert's father died in Fremantle in 1933 and his mother in 1938.
Albert and his family remained in South Terrace till World War Two, then shifted the short distance to 15 Alma Street. Albert had now been working as a Lumper on Fremantle wharf.
In 1949 the family moved to 87 South Terrace and in 1958 shifting to 90 Watkins Street. By 1963 they were living at 11 Yalgoo Ave White Gum Valley.
Albert's wife Rose died in 1965 in May street East Fremantle.
Albert Higham died on the 21st July 1966 aged 75. He was cremated at Fremantle Cemetery.