Henry (Harry) Hart, was born in 1895 to Sophia (née Goldstein) and Coleman Hart in London, England, where Harry was educated. The family moved to Victoria, living in Richmond, where Harry worked as a storeman and served in the CMF.

Within 2 weeks of the commencement of WWI, Harry enlisted aged 19, on 17 August 1914. No. 1354 Private Henry Hart embarked Melbourne 2 February 1915, on HMAT A46 Clan McGillivray with the 2nd Reinforcements of the 7th Battalion. During the voyage Harry was appointed Lance Corporal and they arrived, Alexandria, Egypt in March. The battalion - part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 1st Australian Division – was in the second wave of the ANZAC landings 25 April 1915, subsequently helping to establish the beachhead and suffering heavy losses. He had joined the main body by the time the brigade was transferred south to Cape Helles from 6 to 16 May, when it participated in the unsuccessful attack on Krithia. It was a very costly failure, with the battalion losing a further six officers and 87 men killed – but Private Henry Hart survived.

In June 1915 his parents, Coleman and Sophia, were progressively advised that their son: had been Wounded in Action on 8 May; was recovering in hospital in Mudros; had been transferred to England. But there was confusion by Army records with other soldiers named H. Hart, and thus no certainty. In September, Coleman and Sophia - and some fellow soldiers - even identified Harry as a prisoner of the Turks in a newspaper photo (see attached) and they desperately continued to seek more information about his condition as the months, then years, rolled by.

In 1916 they were advised that Harry was Missing in Action, and younger son John* enlisted in the same 7th Battalion, presumably to try and find his brother. It was not until October 1917 that the parents were officially advised that a Court of Enquiry (5/6/1916) had determined that L/Cpl Henry Hart had been Killed in Action on 18 May 1915 at the Dardanelles. They were spared the graphic evidence of a key Red Cross witness, Private J. Arroll, who “remembered Hart being shot through the head, to the right of Steeles Post. A bullet passed through a loophole and killed him outright. This occurred in May directly after the return of the of the battalion from Cape Helles.”

L/Cpl Leslie Hart, who died age 19, has no known grave and so his name is engraved on Panel 28 of the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey (see attached).

* Tragically, their surviving son, Private John Hart, was preparing to return home from France when he died of appendicitis on 20 April 1919 – see separate entry.

Henry (Harry) Hart, was born in 1895 to Sophia (née Goldstein) and Coleman Hart in London, England, where Harry was educated. The family moved to Victoria, living in Richmond, where Harry worked as a storeman and served in the CMF 56th Infantry Battalion.

Within 2 weeks of the commencement of WWI, Harry enlisted aged 19, (as Presbyterian - not unlike several Jews) in the AIF on 17 August 1914, in the 6th Battalion at Richmond, before being transferred to the 2nd Reinforcements of the 7th Battalion: No. 1354 Private Henry Hart. On 2 February 1915, they embarked Melbourne on HMAT A46 Clan McGillivray and during the voyage Harry was appointed Lance Corporal, arriving in Egypt in March. He joined the main body of the battalion - part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 1st Australian Division – which was in the second wave of the ANZAC landings 25 April 1915, subsequently helping to establish the beachhead and suffering heavy losses. The brigade was transferred south to Cape Helles from 6 to 16 May, when it participated in the unsuccessful attack on Krithia. It was a very costly failure, with the battalion losing a further six officers and 87 men killed – but Private Henry Hart survived.

In June 1915 his parents, Coleman and Sophia, were progressively advised that their son had been Wounded in Action on 8 May; was recovering in hospital in Mudros; and had been transferred to England. But there was confusion by Army records with other soldiers named H. Hart, and thus no certainty. In August, Coleman sought for their younger son, John, to become a clerk in the Base Records Office – presumably to facilitate enquiries. The parents - and some fellow soldiers - even identified Harry as a prisoner of the Turks in a newspaper photo (see attached) and they desperately continued to seek more information about his condition as the months, then years, rolled by.

In May 1916, after they were advised Harry was reported Missing in Action, John* enlisted in the same 7th Battalion (declaring his religion “Jewish”) - as soon as he turned 18 - presumably to try and find his brother. It was not until October 1917 that Sophia and Coleman, now relocated to Thornbury, were officially advised that a Court of Enquiry (5/6/1916) had determined that L/Cpl Henry Hart had been Killed in Action on 18 May 1915 at the Dardanelles. They were spared the graphic evidence of a key witness, Pte J. Arroll, who “remembered Hart being shot through the head, to the right of Steeles Post. A bullet passed through a loophole and killed him outright. This occurred in May directly after the return of the of the battalion from Cape Helles.”

L/Cpl Leslie Hart, who died age 19, has no known grave and so his name is engraved on Panel 28 of the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey (see attached).

Sophia and Coleman received his identity disc and items of kit in February/March 1918 – almost 3 years after his death.

*Tragically, the grief did not abate for the parents. In 1919, their surviving son, Pte John Hart, was preparing to return to Australia from France when he died of appendicitis on 20 April 1919 – see separate entry. Henry and John Hart are amongst seven pairs of brothers from WW1 and a total of at least 14 pairs of brothers, whose names are inscribed on the Australian Jewish War Memorial.

As late as 1921, Sophia and Coleman were given to believe that Harry might be at Mont Park Asylum, one of the many shell-shocked returned soldiers “who had lost their memory.” Sadly, six years of heartache and hope for their two sons’ safe homecoming were to no avail – and the opportunity to have Henry’s name inscribed on his brother John’s headstone had passed.