Henry Thomas (Harry) Brear

Personal Information
Date of Birth	unknown
Place of Birth	Moonee Ponds, Victoria
Death	8 Oct 1951, aged 69
Place of Death	Perth, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	32 years, 8 months
Description	5' 5½" (1.66m) tall; weight 139 lbs (63.0 kg), dark complexion, brown eyes, and brown hair
Occupation	upholsterer
Religion	Church of England
Address	NOK Kelmscott, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother Mrs Eliza Ayton
Military Information
Reg Number	713
Date of Enlistment	12 Nov 1914
Rank	Trooper
Unit/Formation	10th Light Horse regiment, 4th Reinforcement, transferred to 5th Division.
Date of Embarkation	22 Feb 1915 - 24 Mar 1915
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A50 Itonus
Date of Return	17 Jun 1918 - 8 Aug 1918
Ship Returned On	HMT Matatua
Fate	Returned to Australia (Medical grounds)
Monument	none as yet
Medals	1914-15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

Known as Harry and signs name as Harry Brear.

War Service

Sworn in at Helena Vale by Hugo Throssell, and allocated to the 4th reinforcement draft for the 10th Light Horse.

Embarked for Gallipoli from Alexandria on 22 May 1915 and he and 29 others were taken on strength by the 10th Light Horse on the 26th of May in Monash Gully. On 9 Jul 1915 they were on Walker's Ridge, with sickness affecting many of the men (no meat for two weeks) including Harry who was evacuated to hospital in Malta via HMHS Devanha, before being moved to the Military Hospital at Intarfa, and finally evacuated on SS Somali then acting as a Hospital Ship to King George's Hospital in Stanford, England in late Aug 1915.

His initial illness was influenza, later combined with diarrhoea. Returned to Alexandria ex England on 5 Mar 1916, but returned to hospital from 7 Apr to 9 May 1916 in Egypt with VD. AWOL in both June (7 days) and December 1916 (2 days) as well as being disciplined for gambling in December.

Sent to France where he was attached to 2nd Anzac HQ France (5th Division Base Depot) from 23 Jan 1917 until 28 Sep 1917 when he transferred to a base unit in England.

Applied for discharge in England on fitness grounds, asking to be accepted for work as a munitions worker. His request was not successful.

Sent home on medical grounds (old 1910 injuries to his ankles) and discharged by 5th Military District on 4 Sep 1918.

Eighty Fifth Casualty List. Wounded-In-Hospital, London, H.T. Brear (Kelmscott).

Discharge was medical from a pre existing condition to both ankles being fractured in 1910 when run over by a wagon. In 1942 The State Government Insurance Office wrote to the Army to establish if Henry had a history of injury to his left ankle or leg.

Post War

Only Electoral Roll entry is for 1943 - 28 Stanley street, South Brisbane, a carpenter. A letter from SGIO Queensland in July 1942 implies that he had been in Qld for some time and was making a claim under workers' compensation. Returned to WA by the time of his death in 1951 and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.