Henry Jacobs was born c. 1880 to (unknown) and Jack Jacobs in Whitechapel, London, where Henry attended the Jews Free School, Aldgate*. He had worked in the “Boot Trade and Canada tobacco growing” and served in the 10th Royal Hussars for 12 years, including the South African War and India.

Henry came to Australia c. 1912 and was working as a horse driver in Queensland when he enlisted at Townsville on 28 September 1914, age 34. No.155 Private Henry Jacobs joined the same A Company of 15th Battalion as Private Gordon Goldring (see separate entry). Three-quarters of the battalion were from Queensland and the rest from Tasmania. They trained in Victoria with the 13th, 14th and 16th Battalions, forming the 4th Infantry Brigade, commanded by Colonel John Monash, then embarked Melbourne on 22 December, arriving in Egypt on 31 January 1915, undertaking further training.

The brigade left Alexandria in early April and gathered with the ANZACs on Lemnos. They landed at Anzac Cove in the afternoon of 25 April 1915 and a week later were thrown into the attack on Bloody Angle, suffering many casualties. On 14 May, Henry was slightly wounded. Suffering “ear trouble,” on 9 June he was taken by hospital ship to Lemnos, from where he was shipped to Alexandria and admitted to No. 1 Australian General Hospital, Heliopolis on 27 June. Henry returned to his unit on Gallipoli on 2 August, when they were preparing for the “Breakout from Anzac.”

The objective of the 4th Brigade was Hill 971 - the highest point of the Sari Bair Ridge – via a sweeping “Left Hook.” Witnesses later stated to the Red Cross: “On the night of August 6, the 15th Battalion left Rest Gully, Anzac, about 9 p.m. … marched along the beach to[ward] Suvla [Bay] and reached N.Z Outpost at midnight. Previous to this the Turks had been driven out of their trenches by the New Zealanders. The Australians came on the Turks at 3 a.m. and had a hand to hand fight until 7 a.m. The Australians took 3/4 of a mile of trenches and held them. [Pte Jacobs and L/Cpl Howitz] fell during the struggle. The battalion spent the 7th August digging in and buried many bodies. Jacobs and Howitz must have both been buried as they fell on the ground where the bodies, which were buried, were recovered. In the rush and turmoil many identification discs were not recovered.”

Private Henry Jacobs, Killed in Action on 8 August 1915, has no known grave and his name is engraved on Panel 46 of the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey.

* Refer AWM Roll of Honour circular, completed by his sister, Deborah Jacobs, and her Pension card in NAA record, the only note of his alias name: Kalamaski.