Gershun Harbert was born on 12 February 1888 in Warsaw, Poland/Russia (parents unknown). A tailor, he arrived at Adelaide from London in 1910, then lived in Paddington, Sydney. In 1912, he struggled to sign his naturalisation papers.

On 29 April 1915, Gershun used an ‘X’ to mark his signature on his AIF attestation, giving his sister as next of kin: Mrs Zelda Posner of Mile End, London. Aged 27, he enlisted at Liverpool, NSW, in 6th Reinforcement of 4th Battalion: No. 2173 Private Gershun Harbert and on 16 June embarked on HMAT A63 Karoola to Egypt. He joined the main body of his unit at Gallipoli on 4 August, but the next day - just prior to the battalion’s attack on Lone Pine - he was sent back to Egypt suffering colic. On 10 August, he was admitted to No. 3 Auxiliary Hospital, then re-admitted with ear trouble and discharged to light duty on 23 September.

On 21 January 1916, Gershun re-joined 4th Bn (by then evacuated to Egypt) and on 16 February was transferred to 56th Bn. He was one of many 5th Division men who, in preparing to defend the Suez Canal, made an infamous three-day march across 57km of desert in full kit. He suffered terrible heat-stroke and was admitted to 1st New Zealand Stationary Hospital on 30 March, being subsequently discharged 4 April and transferred to 59th Bn. They embarked Alexandria 18 June to Marseilles, then entrained to the north of France to join 15th Brigade at Fleurbaix, west of Lille.

On 19-20 July 1916 - less than a month after arriving in France - the 59th fought in the AIF’s first major battle on the Western Front: the disastrous Battle of Fromelles. Attacking in the first wave, the battalion's advance faltered far short of its objective, suffering the 5th Division’s heaviest casualties, especially from German machine-gunners on the Sugarloaf. Gershun was posted ‘Missing in Action’, like many of the division’s 5,533 casualties, including 35 of the battalion’s 39 officers. “Presumed Buried in No Man's Land at approx. 5J90 43 to 5K02.5.1 Sheet Hazebrouck 5A” was written in his record: the same note as Privates Bezelle Rabinovitch and Edward Samuel, another two Jewish soldiers of 59th Bn (see separate entries) from some 100 in the division.

More than a year later, Gershun’s sister was advised he was ‘Killed in Action, 19 July 1916’. As he has no known grave, 28-year-old Pte Gershun Harbert’s name is engraved on Panel 16 of VC Corner Australian Memorial, Fromelles, France.

He was one of ten Jews amongst the 2,000 diggers killed at Fromelles: Australia’s – and Australian Jewry’s - worst-ever 24 hours. See separate entries for the others, including just two with identified graves: Joseph Hart, buried in 1921, and Berrol Mendelsohn, one of the 250 ‘Lost Diggers of Fromelles’ reinterred in 2010.

Gershun Harbert was born on 12 February 1888 in Warsaw, Poland/Russia (parents unknown). A tailor, he arrived at Adelaide from London in 1910, then lived in Paddington, Sydney, where in 1912 he struggled to sign his naturalisation papers. In fact, his AIF enlistment papers show that he used an ‘X’ to mark his signature and gave his sister as next of kin: Mrs Zelda Posner of Sydney Street, Mile End, London.

Aged 27, he enlisted at Liverpool, NSW, in 6th Reinforcement of 4th Battalion on 29 April 1915: No. 2173 Private Gershun Harbert and on 16 June embarked on HMAT A63 Karoola to Egypt. He joined the main body of his unit at Gallipoli on 4 August, but the next day - just prior to the battalion’s attack on Lone Pine - he was sent back to Egypt suffering colic and admitted to No. 3 Auxiliary Hospital on 10 August. After spending three weeks at the Convalesecent Camp, Zeitoun, he was re-admitted to No. 3 Auxiliary Hospital with ear trouble, discharged to light duty on 23 September 1915, then to Overseas Base, Ghezireh, on 4 January 1916.

Gershun re-joined 4th Bn at Tel el Kebir on 21 January and, with the doubling of the AIF, on 16 February was transferred to 56th Bn. He was one of many of the 5th Division, preparing to defend the Suez Canal, who made an infamous three-day march across 57km of desert in full kit and suffered terrible heat-stroke, being admitted to 1st New Zealand Stationary Hospital on 30 March. He was discharged to duty 4 April and transferred to 59th Bn on 18 May. They embarked Alexandria 18 June and disembarked Marseilles, France, 29 June then entrained to the north of France to join the 15th Brigade at Fleurbaix, 20km west of Lille.

On 19-20 July 1916 - less than a month after arriving in France - the 59th became embroiled in the AIF’s first major battle on the Western Front: the Battle of Fromelles, which was a disaster for them and the whole 5th Division. Attacking in the first wave, the battalion's advance faltered far short of its objective, suffering the 5th Division’s heaviest casualties, especially from German machine-gunners on the Sugarloaf. Gershun’s record does not give any details of the circumstances of his death: he was posted ‘missing in action’, like many of the division’s 5,533 casualties, which included 35 of the battalion’s 39 officers participating. Subsequently, “Presumed Buried in No Man's Land at approx. 5J90 43 to 5K02.5.1 Sheet Hazebrouck 5A” was handwritten in his record: the same note as Privates Bezelle Rabinovitch and Edward Samuel (see separate entries), another two Jewish soldiers of 59th Bn – from some 100 in the division.

It was not until more than a year later, a Court of Enquiry on 29 August 1917 pronounced him ‘Killed in Action, 19 July 1916’ and - with both parents unrecorded – his fate was then advised to his sister in London. As he has no known grave, 28-year-old Pte Gershun Harbert’s name is engraved on Panel 16 of VC Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial, Fromelles, Lille Nord Pas de Calais, France.

Over 24 hours 19-20 July 1916, in Australia’s – and Australian Jewry’s - worst-ever civilian or military disaster, with more than 2,000 diggers killed at Fromelles in 24 hours: he was one of the ten Jewish men amongst them. See separate entries for the other nine, including just two with identified graves: Joseph Hart, buried in 1921, and Berrol Mendelsohn, one of the 250 ‘Lost Diggers of Fromelles’ reinterred in 2010. By 2019, 166 of them had been identified and the quest to identify the remainder continues.