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Henry James Chewings, son of Henry Sr. and Hester Chewings, was born on the 17th of July 1896 in Semaphore, Adelaide. Chewings moved into the rural areas of Adelaide during his teenage years and eventually became a farmer. When the World War occurred, Chewings was excited to enlist because of how the relatively dull life of a farmer made enlistment seem like a dream. Chewings had previously seen service, and possibly action, due to a scar from a bullet wound on his left arm recorded during his enlistment [AIF Project, 2016]. A key reason of this was also because of his unmarried marital status and so he had little to lose by joining the war. Although Australia had prevented conscription from becoming compulsory, Chewings enlisted of his free will, and after a brief waiting period, Chewings embarked on the journey to Egypt on the HMAT A19 Afric on 29 May 1915 at the age of 18.

Chewings, like most Australians, trained at Cairo for four months before being released for action. In Egypt, Chewings was placed in the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, but immediately withdrew after multiple arm wounds forced him to do so. He also admitted in a written letter that he wrote at the hospital that he had ‘no previous experience as a gunner’ and was therefore unfit for the position [National Archives of Australia, 2017].

Chewings’ position changed to the 4th Light Horse Brigade. Drivers of the horse regiment like him were needed basically everywhere, and he ended up as part of the most critical forces in the Western Front- as horses were critical for providing supplies and contributing as an escort for field medical help, for evacuations of civilians and general travel. However, Henry's division stayed behind at Egypt to help 'clean up' the situation. The horse regiments were critical in the most dangerous attacks and were among the first to be exposed to German gas attacks in Ypres. In infantry attacks, Chewings’ regiment was the metaphorical tip, blade and handle of the spear: they led and also supported attacks, but usually at an extreme risk, an example being the Pyrrhic victory (specifically, for their own regiment) of Beersheba, where the 4th Light Horse regiment was heavily involved. The 4th Light Horse regiments’ charge on the trenches at Beersheba has been compared to the fearlessness of the 1854 Charge of the Light Brigade[Woodward, 2006], the only difference being that this charge was one that was mostly successful, and caused the Turkish withdrawal into Palestine.

It was the perilousness of the position that eventually led to Chewings’ invalidation from the war due to a shrapnel wound. He was indeed wounded several times but appeal from family while he was in hospital and the end of the war were what brought him back to Australia, and Chewings was discharged on the 9th of March 1919.

Chewings was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his commitment to duty [RSL Virtual Memorial]. A few years after he returned to Australia, he got married. He ended up having three children- Lois, James and Robert. He lived the rest of his life relatively peacefully and died at the age of 59 on the 21st of October 1955.

ANZAC day is a national holiday devoted to the sacrifice of the valiant Australians during the attack on Gallipoli. It is a day to remember that the ANZACs had a particular strength in doing so, known as the ANZAC spirit. The singularity known as the ANZAC spirit is characterised by the bravery of the Australian and New Zealanders in the war. Even those that weren’t in any danger or didn’t get involved in many wars were unique because they enlisted when conscription was not enforced. These brave soldiers followed orders without question, even when they were ordered to go over the top in the tragedy of Gallipoli.

Henry James Chewings showed this spirit as he knew that being in the Light Horse Regiment would bring more danger to him. He knew that he’d be less effective in the war as a machine gunner due to his lack of experience but at the same time, he knew that the horse regiment was dangerous. While he was relatively safe in the trenches, Chewings would have seen the horse regiments riskily dive into no-man’s land to deliver much-needed medical assistance or deliver supplies- and often get torn apart by eagerly fired bullets while doing so. But he still accepted his role in the army, and selflessly involved himself in the most dangerous conflicts of the war. Even after his several gunshot wounds, it took an appeal from his family to bring him back [NAA.com].

Although the soldiers that we honour on ANZAC day are those who served in wars, there are countless more unnamed yet equally brave people who stayed behind to use their skills to help their respective countries. Those who stayed at home must have had courage to feed their families in the confusion and food-rationing effect of the war. Those who died in battle made the ultimate sacrifice- their own lives- towards their country. However, Henry James Chewings showed the spirit by recognising how he could serve the war efforts better and switching roles in the army to an undoubtedly more dangerous one.

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